iHunt the Animal
by OneHorseShay
Summary: A weekend getaway camping trip to prepare for final exams before graduation turns into a fight for survival as the Hollywood Arts students are hunted down to satisfy something's need to kill while a boy from Seattle's secret might save them all. Character Death Warnings galore. An Elizabeth Gillies 'Animal' tribute. Established Bade, others explored & final pairings are not set.
1. Chapter 1

Hello my dear fans, it's been awhile since I've updated on any of my stories, but here is something I hope you will enjoy. This is my take and tribute on Elizabeth 'Liz' Gillies' upcoming movie that will be released on June 17, 2014, 'Animal'. This should be a fairly short story that I will be able to update with my others as I've been able to pick up on my writing schedule.

This story derives from the Victorious/iCarly universe and not the Sam & Cat AU and takes place after the last episode of the series.

Happy Friday the 13th.

* * *

iHunt the Animal  
By OneHorseShay  
Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue. For God sakes, don't sue.

Rating: High T Violence, Adult Themes/Content and Language; May increase as story progresses.

Pairings: Established Bade, others will be explored including Jade/Freddie (Jedi), Tori/Freddie (Teddie), Tori/Beck (Bori) and Cat/Robbie (Cabbie). Final pairings are not set.

Summary: A weekend getaway camping trip to prepare for final exams before graduation turns into a fight for survival as the Hollywood Arts students are hunted down to satisfy something's need to kill while a boy from Seattle's secret might save them all. Character Death Warnings galore. An Elizabeth Gillies 'Animal' tribute.

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Chapter 1

_Jade ran._

_Jade ran as fast as she could manage in her hiking boots and injured leg on the rough forest terrain and dodging trees during the full moon lit night. She labored for breath as her heart pounded in her chest, her legs burned from exertion (especially her left one where she had torn cloth tied around her upper left thigh to stop the bleeding from a gash across her leg) and her ears filled with the pounding sound of her heartbeat. The need to get away her only goal after seeing the horrors of the past several hours, the several blood splatters on her short blue and white plaid shirt and arm being a testament._

_Her effort didn't seem to be enough as she could hear the howling of the thing behind her getting closer and closer as it chased her down._

_It wasn't a wolf or mountain lion or any other natural creature that God had placed on the Earth, but something different, something… unnatural… something straight out of Hell._

_The dark haired beauty ran and ran and ran, swatting away any low and light weighted branch that was in her path until she misjudged her step and the tip of her boot caught something, an exposed root, a rock or just some uneven ground. She tumbled forward, but thankfully her arms flung upward and protected her face as she landed hard on the compacted ground. She may have protected her face from getting smashed, but that didn't into account the rest of her pain that shot through her arms, chest and knees from the hard landing. She coughed as the pain from those spots reverberated throughout the rest of her already sore, exhausted and over-exerted body._

_She rolled on her back with a hiss and grimace on her face, but her pain was swept away from the forefront of her mind as outright terror gripped her heart and reflected on her face.  
_

_The 'Animal', somehow avoided the light from the overhead hanging full moon and obscured it from her getting a clear vision of the creature as it slowly stalked between the trees and towards the pale high school student. She suddenly had the presence of mind to start frantically crawling back on her elbows and kicked with her heels digging into the ground. The back of her arms hit something, a tree root or something, but whatever it was, she felt trapped and couldn't crawl back any further._

_Jade looked into the creatures red eyes as he took his final steps towards her and she knew in her soul that the next moment was going to be her last one on this Earth…  
_  
Hours earlier…

Friday, June 15, 2012  
Los Angeles, CA

Jade West was in a foul mood as she gazed out at the passing forest scenery from her passenger seat in the red pickup truck. Her frame of mind and emotions were in stark contrast to Beck's carefree attitude in the driver's seat.

The actor was driving her and the rest of their friends, riding in his trailer attached to the back of the pickup truck, to a little secluded camp ground in the Angeles National Forest. They had been traveling for about the last hour and were now on the Angeles Forest Highway only minutes away from their destination after meeting up at Hollywood Arts. Jade had thought it had been an hour too long to be riding next to her 'boyfriend', but it was far better than being in Beck's trailer feeling every possible bounce of the road.

Beck had noticed her sour disposition, but had ignored it for nearly the entire trip. However, since they would soon be arriving at their destination, he ventured to ask in what he hope came off as a curious tone rather than an accusatory one, "Okay, what's wrong?"

The dark brunette, free of her usual colored hair extensions, turned her head to look at his profile and answered with a clipped tone, "Nothing's wrong."

"Really? You haven't spoken since we've left Hollywood Arts, just staring out the window."

"I just didn't feel like talking. I didn't want our conversation to 'turn into a screaming match'."

The comment pricked at the handsome inspiring actor, a line that he used to voice one of his problems he had with her just before their breakup a few months ago. He was curious as to why she would suddenly bring that up since they had reconnected a few weeks ago after their three month breakup, but he asked what he thought was the more obvious question, "Why would our conversation turn into a screaming match?"

Jade kept her focus mainly on the road ahead of them, but glanced over to him with the corner of her eye to sharply retort, "Because we didn't resolve anything this morning; you just showed up on my front door and told me you were there to pick me up when you knew I didn't want to go on this little escape before exams. If I wanted to go someplace for a getaway before exams, it certainly wouldn't be out in the middle of the woods—Cancun would have been at the top of my list, but I didn't get to go there for our last semester break because you were too much of a coward to stand up to your family for me."

He sighed out with a soft roll of his eyes while still maintaining his eyes on the road for the most part, "Where is this coming from?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head before looking out the passenger window. "I'm irritable okay. I did not want to spend my weekend in the woods before our finals. I would have liked to study in peace and quiet and as much as Tori can get under my skin and Cat can be scattered brain, they are good study partners—not all of us frolicking in the woods."

Beck calmly replied hoping she could see the advantage of the situation he was point out, feeling that this could easily turn into a screaming match if he didn't pick his next words carefully, "We're not just 'frolicking' in the woods; this is counting towards our final in a big way for them. All we have to do is listen to a few short lectures and do a few scenes and we're done. Why do you think so many other seniors are meeting us there? Sikowitz is willing to just have this replace his final for us."

Jade bowed her head slightly and palmed her forehead, a small shot of pain going through it at him being so oblivious to the obvious point about having exams. She blew out a slow breath to try to calm the growing annoyance and calmly responded as to not try to escalate things, "We still have other classes than acting—_state_ exams that we can't be exempted."

Beck spotted the end of the road to the campground parking as he answered, "You'll do fine and there is a thing as too much studying."

The dark haired senior glanced out the front windshield, silently fuming at him thinking he knew better than her and making the decision on how much she should study before the finals.

* * *

The 'fluffy haired' actor continued driving down the road for about a dozen more yards following the signs to towards the trailer parking. The red pickup truck pulled to a stop in a designated spot and couple exited the vehicle as soon as the actor put the vehicle in park.

Jade stepped out the truck, revealing her attire for the first day of their camping trip of her grey long sleeve shirt with an eagle print, dark blue jeans and boots. It was a little much in covering as the temperatures were starting to rise to the low eighties, but she had her reasons.

The couple walked to the door and as had happened two years ago when they had went to Venice Beach, the door flung open and Cat literally jumped from the trailer. She chanted as she ran past them, "Got to pee, got to pee."

Jade dryly commented as the couple watched the redhead desperately find a restroom, "She _still_ has the bladder of a squirrel."

The others, André, Robbie, and Trina, soon followed out the door led by Tori. The brunette wore a bright smile and took in a deep breath of the clear air, a considerable improvement over the usual air content in the rest of the City of Angels.

Tori let out a joyful laugh while commenting, "Now this is some fresh air."

Jade crossed her arms under her chest and mocked, "Yes, nice clean fresh air… we just have to worry about all the creepy crawly bugs trying to crawl all over and bite us."

The outgoing brunette turned her attention to her pale rival and directed a narrow gaze and soft frown.

Seeing that she had burst Tori's excitement at least for the moment put a smile on Jade's face and lifted her spirits with having to be drug out into the middle of the woods.

Beck rolled his eyes and shook his head, quickly realizing that dragging her out here really could be a bad idea. He was not looking forward to watching Jade snip at every opportunity to bring down the weekend.

Of all the people to agree with Jade, it was Trina who quickly pulled out a small bottle of bug spray out of her back jeans short pocket and started spraying all over herself, especially over her upper chest and upper curvature of her breasts and cleavage that was revealed in her pink scoop neck tank top.

Robbie started coughing and frantically tried to wave away the mist as some of it inevitably blew in his direction.

The older Vega sister popped the top back on the spray and idly commented, "Jade's right. Got to protect the 'girls' from all those mosquitoes."

Jade smirked and motioned her hand towards Trina even if she hated to admit being in agreement with the girl.

Tori rolled her eyes and started pass Jade and Beck to head in the direction of the other arriving students. "Let's go find Sikowitz."

Trina, André and Robbie followed behind her with Beck closing and locking his trailer door behind him. Jade brought up the rear and quickly joined by Beck's side, not bothering to hide her distain of being out here with them.

As the group was passing several of their fellow students' parked cars, one particular vehicle caught André and Beck's attention. The long haired actor whistled as he looked at the '69 black Dodge Charger. He took a quick glance through the rolled up windshield at the white interior and commented in high praise, "Wow, now this is a nice car. I didn't know anyone at school drove this."

Jade stopped and crossed her arms under her chest and shrugged her shoulders. "It is a pretty sweet ride," she commented without trying to sound to enthusiastic in agreeing with her boyfriend. The color and type of car was certainly her style. The car looked like it was in pristine condition, just rolled off the assembly line and she was impressed with the muscle car. The color and style certainly appealed to her, but she did not look forward having to sit back and listen to Beck talk to the owner of the car for hours on end about it and other similar vehicles.

Trina stopped to admire the vehicle, joining in the wonder who could own the restored car. If someone could put this much time and care into a car, she wondered what else he could put such care into and as vain as it sounded, how much money did he have at his disposal.

A familiar and friendly voice called out from the group, "Thanks. I'm glad someone can truly appreciate it."

The group turned to see the familiar brown haired teenager from Washington state beam a smile to their direction.

Tori's face brightened like the morning sunshine at the surprise and trotted over and pulled the Seattleite into a quick and joyful hug, even sparing him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Freddie Benson returned the smile and at least the hug, unsure if he should risk a cheek kiss. He pulled out of Tori's grasp and the younger Vega sister ecstatically finished greeting him, "Hey."

He answered in a little more somber, but not any less happy to see her, "Hey Tori."

Tori didn't get a chance to reply as her older sister spoke up with a warm welcome, "Hello Freddie." She directed a flirtatious smile at him as she approached then pulled him into a tight hug. She let her hand travel a little further in the hug and gave a slight squeeze of his bottom, drawing a wide eyed response from him. She pulled back and grinned.

The younger brunette's eyes nearly popped from her sockets as she looked to her sister with a scandalous expression, perhaps ready to tear into her.

Freddie glanced to Tori then nervously chuckled, "Good to see you too Trina."

Cat came running out of nowhere from Freddie's point-of-view and jumped towards the tech-producer and threw her arms out for a hug, assuming that he would catch her.

Freddie didn't fail her by easily catching her in his strong arms while she wrapped them around the back of his neck. "Hey Cat," he warmly greeted her as he sat her back down on her feet. "Good to see you too."

The redhead sweetly smiled to the handsome teenager and softly bit her bottom lip while she giggled then took a step back.

He kept his bright smile on as he turned it towards the Jade and greeted, "Hi Jade."

The pale girl still had her arms crossed under her chest and wore a guarded, non-hostile expression on her face, as she neutrally replied, "Hey."

He nodded his head and his smile slightly slipped, apparently looking a little disappointed with her less than warm welcome.

She felt a mild tinge of regret at what came off as a brush off response. They hadn't had a lot of contact with one another, just some pleasant (and not stupid) conversation during Kenan's party, his visit last September for Tori's play and a few exchanges on TwitFlash/TheSlap, but he hadn't done anything to her during those exchanges. He had in his favor that he wasn't stupid or annoying as Robbie or Sinjin. He may have been nearly as sickening nice as Tori, but he had a good head on his shoulders… and he was a pretty chunk-a-boy that seemed to have gotten better looking since the last time she had seen him in person. She couldn't correct herself in time as he turned his attention to the guys and they quickly exchanged greetings.

Tori quickly asked, "What are you doing here?"

Freddie put his charming smile back on and shrugged a shoulder. "Oh, I saw from your Slap page that you'd be here for the weekend and I was passing through the state, so I thought I'd stop by and surprise you with a visit. I hope you don't mind. I wouldn't think they would notice one more teenager and this is a public national park. They can't exactly tell me to leave."

Trina eagerly pointed out as she slid up next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Well we're glad you're here."

The minor web-celebrity smiled at the attention though there was a little bit of apprehension shown on his face.

The redhead eagerly asked, clearly hoping to see her fellow cupcake lover and the vicious blonde that reminded her of Jade, "Where's Carly and Sam?"

The Seattle teenager's smiled faltered once more and he offhandedly commented, "I imagine they're studying for exams and getting ready for graduation."

Tori furled her brow and questioned, "Why aren't you up there doing the same?"

He nervously chuckled while slipping out of Trina's grasp, "That's kind of a story."

"Oh?" the younger brunette questioned in concern and mild surprise from his facial expression, clearly unaware of some apparent life changes. She quickly recovered with a near bashful response, "Well there'll be plenty of time to hear about it tonight. I want to hear all about it."

Freddie looked a little taken aback from her offer to a number of the other teenagers watching as he answered, "Okay."

André waved the group over where some of their fellow students were heading and some had already gathered and called out, "I hate to interrupt, but we've got to sign in so we can get credit for being here."

The songsmith turned and walked to join the other students waiting in line to sign-in for the school campout.

Cat happily skipped along to follow with Robbie eager on her heels.

Tori looped her arm around the boy from Seattle's left arm and they walked together towards the check-in desk with Trina trailing behind with a partially hid expression of jealousy.

Jade spared a roll of her eyes of Tori putting on her flirtatious little act to try to wrap Freddie around her little finger. The dark haired teenager shouldn't really care who Tori directed her flirtation as long as it wasn't directed towards Beck. She also couldn't feel any real jealousy or competition towards the brunette as when they competed for Moose as she was… 'content' with Beck and wasn't looking around. The Seattle teenager also seemed to be a perfect fit for the thorn in her side brunette from what she knew of him, the sweet handsome boy-next-door.

The group walked a few yards to take their place at the end of the line and patiently waited their turn to sign in for the school gathering. Jade glanced to see Sinjin and a Hispanic girl standing beside him that looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place her identity, the curly dirty blonde's little sister Courtney and his odd friend Burf further up the line.

Robbie recognized the girl Jade couldn't recall as Gabriella, the girl that he had asked out and took to prom when Cat was throwing out all the signals that she didn't want him to ask her. He wore a mildly irritated expression that she seemed to be so cozy with Sinjin. He wasn't necessarily upset that Gabriella hadn't wanted to start something up after prom, but knowing that he was being beaten out by Sinjin stung at what little pride he possessed.

Trina noticed a few students as well a head of them in signing up. Hollywood Arts' other heartthrob, the sandy blonde Mark McCallan was hand-in-hand with the lovely Jessica Wolf, a onetime date of Robbie's that definitely set herself higher standards since her sophomore year. So much in fact, that she had become a rising star in the other parallel acting and music classes to the group of friends in Sikowitz's class that some started considering her a true rival to Tori, well before the younger Vega sister's performance at the PMAs. The girl of unknown Asian decent beauty had blossomed with a lovely face and desirable figure for the guys of the school, especially upstairs that was proportional to the rest of her figure.

All these developments for Jessica—including apparently getting with Mark—just infuriated Trina. She still cursed the weekend she had to get her wisdom teeth pulled instead of going out on that date with Mark.

There were two others behind them, a male and female junior, but Trina didn't really give them much thought. The girl had strawberry blonde hair and unknown to her was Mark's younger sister, Suzy while the guy with nearly black hair that was nearly long enough to reach his jaw line was Dalton, the number two guy that ran TheSlap.

The group finally reached the table where there were several sheets lying on the table with student names. Tori picked up one of the pens and searched for her name near the end of one of the sheets. The brunette signed her name in then handed the pen to Freddie, but quickly realized that he wouldn't be signing.

Freddie just smiled and took the pen from her without missing a beat. He looked down at the sheets and glanced over the names, noticing that the vast majority of them had been signed. However, noticing that their group was the end of the line, he picked a blank spot and signed his name. He smiled at the teacher while handing his pen to André.

Tori walked with Freddie, her arm still looped with his arm, to let the rest have their turn sign-in. As the pair started to follow the other students to where they would gather for the teachers to get the day started, she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered, "Who did you sign?"

Freddie shrugged his shoulder and lazily answered, "Just some guy named Dustin Hale. I hope he doesn't get mad at me if he shows up."

The rest of the group signed-in then quickly caught up with the pair just as they were approaching the edge of the student body that showed up. There were about four dozen teenagers that had gathered in front of a makeshift platform, presumably what was going to be used for the performances over the weekend, where Sikowitz and two other teachers were standing on either side of him, a male and female.

Sikowitz pressed the siren button on the bullhorn in his left hand then started speaking with it wearing a broad grin on his face, "Okay ladies and gentlemen. I'm glad so many of you were able to make it to our Super-Weekend Review Campout. This will give you an opportunity to study and perform with your classmates in order to prepare for your final exams. We will also be having several graded performances, meaning I along with Mister Gradstein…"

A soft murmur swept through the crowd at the mentioning of the mid-thirties scriptwriting teacher. He was well known for being a harsh grader and quite frankly, wasn't much liked through the school.

The soft smile Gradstein wore quickly faded as he had the same opinions on them with their reaction.

Freddie looked to Tori for an explanation, but she quietly whispered into his ear, "I'll explain later."

"…and Miss Bissette will be the ones issuing the grades."

The murmurs ceased at the introduction of the very lovely brunette in her mid-thirties. She had fair skin with long and luscious dark brown hair that rested over her plaid shirt covered shoulders. She had a curvy yet thin figure that the plaid shirt and mid-thigh shorts snuggle held and she had been the object of fantasies to many of the male students at the school—along with a few females.

The eccentric acting teacher continued, "These performances will count as extra credit towards your finals and we've agreed if two out of three of us agree, it can replace your final in whichever one of our classes you attend. We're going to start at about eight o'clock, so in the meantime, you can sign up for one of these performances, pick up a script and begin practicing with your cast mates. For those of you who aren't going to perform, we expect you to show up as an audience, but the rest of the time is yours to relax and study and do whatever you want…" He erratically motioned with his pointer fingers around as he finished, "…as long as it isn't dangerous or illegal. Everyone have a good time and good luck."

The gathering of teenagers started milling about, randomly conversing with one another while some were started disperse.

Freddie looked to the brunette to his right and asked, "So, what's your plans for tonight?"

Tori glanced towards the others, catching several of their eyes to confirm the plan they had made before leaving Hollywood Arts, then back to him to answer with a sweet, playful voice, "I thought we'd sign up for a performance after an early dinner, but head to the lake for a quick relaxing swim before we had to start practicing and studying."

The teenager raised an eyebrow, his mind quickly imagining her and the other girls in swimsuits. He softly blushed and hoped the attractive brunette wouldn't notice his reaction.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm going to take liberties with the geography of the national park for story purposes, so if anyone actually lives in the area and visits it, sorry. I hope to update next Thursday, so happy reading until then and go see Elizabeth's movie on Tuesday if you're near a showing or OnDemand by you local cable company.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I have another chapter for 'Animal's' release date. Thank you all for reading the first chapter and interested in reading my little Victorious tribute to it.

Challenge King: I hope this chapter will continue to keep your interest and thanks for reading.

Fanfic-Reader-88: The movie is in selected theaters and OnDemand. You can also get it from iTunes and Amazon for download I believe.

Why is Freddie suddenly out in the middle of nowhere and meeting up with our favorite gang from Hollywood Arts? Spoilers.

Also, FFR88 has a new one-shot in regards to his Freddie/Trina series, so you should take a look (don't tell him, but I haven't gotten a chance to read it myself yet). It's rated T, so the kiddies should be able to read it.

Well, on with the story.

Rating: T Suggested Adult Themes

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Chapter 2

The group headed back to Beck's RV and the girls slipped inside while the guys headed for the truck bed. Freddie looked on curiously as Beck and André pulled out two packed up tents. They started unrolling one and setting it up a few feet from the left side of the trailer's entrance.

Robbie idly stood by and watched with Freddie, not wanting to get in the way due to his lack of confidence on his ability to contribute without looking like an imbecile in front of any of the passing girls as he did the time Beck fixed his car (before it was stolen). The Seattleite on the other hand curiously asked in noticing that they only had two tents to set up, "Where's the other tents? You can't all share them."

The ventriloquist leaned his head slightly towards Freddie and softly complained, "The girls out voted us and they get the trailer for the weekend."

Freddie snorted and shook his head. "Look on the bright side; it's the chivalrous thing to do. You wouldn't want them all bitten up by bugs at night and I'm assuming it has a bathroom. It's easier for us. All we have to do is find a bush."

Beck snorted a laugh while tying one of the ropes to one of the stakes, but André looked up from driving another stake into the ground and mildly complained, "I do like doing the chivalrous thing, but I'm not eager to being a feast for the bugs either."

The out-of-town teenager half-smirked with a raised eyebrow and pointed out, "Would you rather be irritable or _them_ being irritable all weekend?"

The guys looked between one another for a few seconds and saw his point.

Freddie smiled at finally being on the winning side of an argument. "Let me help you."

He joined them on fighting to set up the first tent then the three finished setting up the second tent on the other side of door in record time with Robbie 'supervising' them. Freddie bid them a quick 'See you in a few minutes' before heading back to his car.

As soon as he was out of sight, the girls exited the trailer. They wore various loose fitting but flattering outer clothing (well all but one) hiding their respective swimwear from view: Tori in a loose fitting black sleeveless shirt that reached only to her mid-abdomen to show it (and her cute bellybutton) off and a pair of light blue Daisy-Dukes; Cat wore a yellow T-shirt with a unicorn on the front and blue Daisy-Dukes as well; Trina sported a tight fitting pink tank top that hinted at her blue bikini top and beach skirt covering her bikini bottom and Jade being the one that was most covered up with a large brim hat, baggy black tank top and skit that reached her ankles with a shoulder back slung over her left arm. The guys hid their reactions as each was quite appealing to the eyes, even Trina where other than Robbie, the others passed on her looks.

Tori palmed the top of her large brim black hat to hold it in place from the slight breeze picking up. She looked around and slightly frowned when she noticed the Seattle teenager's absence. She looked to Beck and André to asked, "Where's Freddie?"

The long haired actor easily answered, "He's going to go set up his tent, change and meet us up at the lake."

The brunette nodded her head, the disappointment clearly shown on her face. She forced a smile on her face and happily stated, "Okay then. We'll wait for you guys to change then we'll go down to the lake."

Jade passed an accusing glance towards her boyfriend, "Yeah, maybe I can get some peace and quiet to get some studying done."

Beck rolled his eyes and shook his head. He tapped André's shoulder and the guys headed inside of the trailer.

* * *

Less than twenty minutes later, Tori led the group of friends down the trail and towards the edge of the manmade lake, all eager to have a relaxing time except for Jade that trailed far behind the group. The brunette was clearly disappointed that Freddie wasn't walking with her, but he was still running behind as his tent was taking a little longer to set up than expected and changing.

Jade thought about teasing her, but didn't see the point unless he really didn't show up. The guy after all had a legitimate reason not to be with them and any mocking would fall flat on its face of trying to suggest he had ditched the younger Vega sister.

The group reached the edge of the shore of the lake where a number of their fellow students were already claiming spots and hitting the water. The sun was shining over head and lighting up the near crystal clear lake and the surrounding scenery. The beauty of it nearly took Tori's breath away as the other started laying out their towels and Jade a folding yard chair graciously carried by Beck. She was quite looking forward to jumping into the water and now that a certain teenager had unexpectedly joined them for the weekend, perhaps enjoying the weekend for more than she had expected.

The brunette was pulled out of her musings as Cat and Trina were starting to strip their outer layers.

Cat wore a baby blue and flower patterned two-piece bikini that revealed a lot of her skin, but was yet still quite tasteful in covering what needed to be covered. Her red velvet locks, looking brighter than normal on the sunny day, cascaded over her shoulders and back made her look like the mermaid from Dingo's classic animated film.

Trina pulled off her loose fitting top and beach skirt to reveal her shapely curves and her blue two-piece bikini.

Tori caught up to unfold her towel for a spot next to Cat's towel then grabbed the hem of her loose fitting shirt then lifted it up to reveal her tanned body then her black triangle cupped string bikini top. She dropped it on her towel then turned to her cutoff shorts. She popped the button and pulled the zipper down then pulled the shorts down past her hips and behind before dropping them on her towel to reveal her black bikini bottoms that wrapped around her hips.

Robbie cleared his throat, suddenly choking on absolutely nothing, his eyes rapidly darting between the three girls. He wasn't the only teenage boy having the same reaction as Beck took a few seconds to stare at the brunette that had shot him down twice after his last breakup with Jade. André sniffled with a flick of his finger under his nose before the turned his gaze away as what he had just seen was nothing. There were a few other teenagers that passed glances in the girls' direction, but they went unnoticed by the group.

Jade hanging back from the other three as she unfolded her chair and setting her bag next to it noticed Beck's gaze was almost exclusively focused on Tori, his eyes practically roaming over her body and stopping on the brunette's chest and rear. She clenched her teeth to the point of jaw hurting and slowly let out a breath that made her nostrils flare. If she wasn't wearing sunglasses, anyone passing a glance to her would have seen the murderous glare in her eyes.

Before any of the girls headed to the water, Tori she grabbed Cat by the wrist to stop her from just running towards the water and the Vega sisters pulled out a bottle of spray sunscreen from their respective bags. The sisters took quick glances at the directions to see if there were anything other to do than just the obvious straightforward spraying then sprayed over all their exposed skin. Once Tori was done covering herself, she turned to Cat with the bottle. The redhead giggled as Tori sprayed the smaller girl down as she would forget to take such a precaution before heading to the water. The brunette finished quickly and Cat took off like a shot to the small pier on the shore then leapt off the end of it, tucking herself into a ball before hitting the water with a cannonball splash. A few moments later, she popped back up out of the water and threw her hair back over her head, mimicking a scene from the classic Dingo film, and brushing her hair back behind neck and back.

Robbie realized that he had to get into the water before anyone noticed the affect the sight was happening on him. He awkwardly trotted towards the water as if his feet were burning on the sand, which it certainly wasn't doing to the soles of his feet.

Trina walked towards the water as if she was a model on the catwalk, completely confident in her appearance and the envy of others. As much as the general male population tried to ignore Trina due to any number of reasons, a number of them couldn't deny that she was a lovely piece of eye candy as she made her way into the water.

André followed the others in the water, stealing glances of some of the other skimpily clad girls on the shore and already in the water, particularly his ex-Sherry after the 'Prome' and Alesha, the girl that Jade had sabotaged from asking out with the 'Hammer Dance' bet months ago.

Tori walked and tentatively dipped her feet in the water, not willing to just jump right in as Cat while being unsure of the water's temperature. Not finding the water too cold and under the gazing eyes of several of her fellow students admiring her athletic figure and exposed skin (including Beck), she walked into the water and slipped into it and began swimming into it without too much problem of adjusting to the temperature.

Once Tori's body disappeared into the water, Beck snapped out of gaze and jogged to catch up with the others to the water.

Jade took a few slow, deep breaths to try to relax the tension of her muscles in her neck and shoulders from watching her boyfriend practically ogle over her brunette frenemy. Once she felt at least calm enough not to tear someone apart, she took a seat in her yard chair and pulled her PearPad from her bag to start reading.

* * *

In a more secluded area around the lake in the wooded area before the shore, a young couple was having a moment to themselves or so they hoped and thought. Dalton peppered the strawberry blonde's face with playful kisses, drawing soft giggles past Suzy's lips while his hands were around the small of her back and her hands rested on his shoulders.

The two juniors had the same idea to join the others to go swimming before getting to any studying or practice and dressed to do so; Dalton was shirtless and showing off his toned muscular frame and a pair of black swim trunks and Suzy was dressed in a two piece pink bikini with a plunge cup top and string tied bottoms (which her father certainly wouldn't approve of the nearly seventeen year old to wear if he knew) that show off nearly all her pale skin if it wasn't for a translucent beach shirt she was wearing to the lake—which was right now lying across her bag on a large rock, but swimming was the last thing on either of the teenager's minds.

The kisses started becoming more frequent and without conscious thought, the couple slowly walked backwards until Suzy's back softly bumped into a tree. She mewed back into the deepening kisses with a mild whimper of discomfort from tree bark pressing into her nearly bare back. Her discomfort gave way to pleasure as she felt his hardness through his swim trunks press against her bikini covered center.

Dalton softly groaned into her mouth as he felt her softness between her parting legs and started hugging his hips. His pelvis instinctively started softly grinding against her.

The strawberry redhead mewed into his kiss and gripped his shoulders tighter.

They continued this way for several more seconds until Dalton realized what he was doing and pulled and stepped away slightly to get some distance from his girlfriend. However, he didn't separate himself too much as he easily held her hips. The black haired teenager bashfully smiled and spoke in an apologetic tone, "Sorry, I—I… I didn't mean to get carried away."

Suzy softly pecked him on the cheek then beamed a smiled to him as she whispered, "It's okay. I did… get you kind of excited."

He nodded then motioned with a hand behind her. "Maybe we should go ahead and join the others? Courtney is probably waiting on you and she's probably not all that happy that we went ahead without her."

"Okay, but…" She bowed her head to look between and tried to stifle a giggle. "…we have to wait a minute."

The dark haired junior narrowed his eyes while lifting an eyebrow that she just found sexy from him. "Why?"

The sweet girl motioned towards his swim trunks with an embarrassing smirk.

Dalton looked down and a tint of flush formed on his cheeks when he saw that he was still quite 'excited'. He looked to her awkwardly laugh, "Oh, ah… yeah."

Suzy tried to suppress a laugh at his predicament and decided an innocent kiss on his cheek would stifle such a thing.

The assistant webmaster took a seat on a rock then grabbed one of the towels they had brought for the lake and threw it over his lap, attempting to hide his shameful excitement. She picked up her discarded towel and draped it over the rock next to him and had a seat. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder blades and over his chest to hug against his arm and kiss his cheek.

Dalton turned his face so they could continue their soft, innocent kisses for several minutes before he stood up. The couple took each other by the hand, gathered their things and started walking back towards the lake.

Ignored by both during their entire encounter, the bushes rustled one last time then started gently being swayed by the wind.

* * *

Freddie casually made his way towards the manmade lake to join the others then started walking along the edge of the water. He gave an occasional glance out on the beautiful scenery and the very lovely ladies in their swimwear. He wasn't enjoying the sight as one might expect as something seemed to weigh on his mind.

He stopped to see a girl sitting in a lawn chair with a large brim black hat to shield her from the sun and dark locks falling on the side of her face, blocking her profile and preventing him from initially recognizing her. She was casually reading from a PearPad with a stencil in her hand, occasionally tapping the screen or writing something down.

The Seattleite took another moment to glance at the rest of her attire and see that she wore a loose fitting black spaghetti strap top that had a seam cut down the middle starting from the hem of the shirt to just under her bust. Under the loose fitting shirt, there was a visible black bikini top. Further down to finish her outfit, she wore a long dull dark blue skirt that reached her ankles and sandals on her feet.

She certainly stood out from the rest of the lovely girls in their colorful (and some skimpy) swimwear and Freddie realized it was a lovely distinction from the rest. The girl and her focus on her PearPad instead of joining the others aroused his curiosity.

He casually walked towards the sitting girl and politely greeted her, "Hello."

The girl took a noticeable breath, one that looked like she was trying to check her anger, and lowered the PearPad onto her lap. She turned her head to give the young man a standoff expression, having removed her glasses earlier to read, before it softened at recognizing the Seattleite.

He suppressed a laugh at seeing that the mysterious girl was Jade. He took a seat next to her on one of the towels that had been a laid out by one of the other girls and bent his legs to rest his forearms on his knees.

Jade took a considerable glance at the muscular teenager from Seattle as he sat down. He was wearing a blue open button light shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows with a grey athletic shirt clinging to his muscular frame underneath hanging over the waistband of his royal blue swim trunks that reached to just above his knees. She had seen the muscle built up between her first meeting with him at Kenan's party to his visit to see Tori's play last year and over the nine months he had improved. She felt a wave of physical attractiveness she had felt when she saw Moose weeks ago, but quickly suppressed it.

She cautiously answered, trying not to embarrass herself as she had did earlier with her original standoffish greeting, "Hey."

An odd silence fell between them, neither seeming to know what to say next to advance the conversation.

He awkwardly commented hoping to break the ice, "You don't exactly look like you're here for a swim. Why are you sitting here and not out with the others?"

"Because I'm trying to study."

The native Seattle teenager instantly put on an apologetic expression and answered, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Jade retorted sharply without thinking, "I have a Pad in my hand; you didn't see me reading it?"

Freddie frowned, seeing that trying to strike up a friendly conversation with the girl was bad idea as he already had his fill of irrational hostile girls. He was about to just get up and join the others in the water but he attempted one last time in order to avoid having an antagonistic relationship with her by calmly replying, "Jade, I was curious as to who was the mysterious girl standing out from the rest and not joining the others, but reading on a PearPad. It feels pretty nice out here and from how much it looks like the others are enjoying the water, it must feel fantastic. I was a little curious."

The pale student raised her pierced eyebrow, her annoyance fading a little bit and being replaced with her own curiosity and a little bit of flattery that filtered into her voice, "So you thought I was being all mysterious just sitting here?"

He slowly answered, wondering if he was about to walk into a verbal trap, "Yeah."

She looked back to her pad and let a hint of a smile.

The handsome teenager's apprehension eased as the building tension between them seemed to have considerably dropped. Since he would probably be hanging out with her with the others for the rest of the night, tomorrow and some of Sunday, he asked hoping to foster the positive shift between them, "So if you don't mind me asking, what are you studying? Maybe I can help?"

"Math—Algebra Two. We have the state final exam next week."

Freddie's face almost broke from the grin that formed.

Jade cautiously asked, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing except that I'm very good at math and aced Algebra Two. I even used to be part of my high school's math club… before they kicked me out."

"Why did they kick you out?"

"I ah… I didn't think some guy on the internet was funny, so I was shunned by practically everyone including being kicked out of everyone of my clubs."

She paused and just stared at him for a few seconds before muttering, "That's… janking stupid."

"Yes it is… there are a lot of stupid things that happen in Seattle…" He smirked and slightly nodded his head several times as he remarked, "Which is why I'm glad I'm not there anymore… anyway, I could help you study if you want."

The dark haired hopeful actress curiously eyed him, wondering if there was something deeper to why he was down here, but she put that to the side for the time being and nodded her head. She tried to come off casually as she answered, "Thanks, but wouldn't you want to hang out with the others?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "We'll hang out during dinner tonight anyway and there's always tomorrow."

"Well if it doesn't cut into your time, I'd appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

He continued, feeling that the last of the tension between them had ceased and he could carry on in a less defensive manner, "I am kind of curious about something though."

"And what's that?"

"Well, if you're more interested in studying your academic classes, why are you out here this weekend?" The handsome Seattle teenager then teased, "You don't enjoy the lovely scenery of nature? The chance to get away from it all?"

Jade rolled her eyes and started with clear annoyance and her voice became angrier as she explained, "Because Beck showed up on my doorstep after lunch and told me to get my things to get in his truck. He practically dragged me out here for this performance weekend trip on this 'lovely' nature trip. I wanted to spend the weekend to study my non-performance classes because I have two that are state exams that they won't exempt us from, but no… this was far more important. I know my stuff, if they don't then tough on them. I don't like what you call 'lovely scenery of nature' when all I feel is the mugginess tonight, the lousy food, unable to get a decent cup of coffee and the mosquitoes wanting to bite all over my boobs."

Freddie glanced away and for a second, the dark haired teenager thought she saw a bit of blush on his face. He commented in such a way as if he tasted something foul in his mouth, "Oh, so it was _Beck_…"

Jade cocked her right eyebrow, curious at his reaction. She questioned with clear curiosity in her voice about his reaction to Beck, "Oh? What about Beck?"

He passed a quick glance to her before turning his sight back onto the lack while he answered, "It's nothing, I'm just… I'm surprised that you just didn't slam the door in his face or…" His voice dropped so low that Jade barely heard him, "…why you got back with Beck."

She furled her neatly trimmed eyebrows and snapped her question, "Why? Why would you think that?"

The brown eyed teenager glanced at his feet and the sand while he mumbled out, "Oh, a lot of different reasons."

"Such as," she pressed on with a hint of threat in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up. Just forget it."

Jade shifted in her seat to rest her right forearm on her chair and continued with a raised voice, "Oh no, you just don't get to question my relationship with Beck then get to close your trap. I want to know why you're surprised that I would get back with him."

Freddie took a deep breath through his nose then turned his head to meet her eyes. "Fine, I'm surprised you'd want to get with a guy that looks like he's just settling with you."

Jade's nostrils flared and she snapped, "_Excuse me_."

The Seattleite rolled his eyes and blew out a breath before reluctantly answering, "He did just chase after Tori—the second time—the week before he got back with you. It sounded more like to me that he was just settling to get back with you because Tori turned him down. I think that's pretty low of him and I would think you'd want something more than that—being treated as his consolation prize."

She hissed out in a low and one could say threatening voice, "Did Tori tell you that?"

He blew out a tired breath, kicking himself for even bringing it up, but decided to press on, "Tori and I do talk on a regular basis—it has been a little spotty lately. I know about him making his moves on her before the PMAs and her turning him down _for you_. I know that from their 'opposite date' that she clearly saw what his true intentions were for them going out that night. That's why she was so insistent to make it clear to him they were going out on wasn't a date. If he had been André or Robbie, she wouldn't have given it a second thought about going for the night… okay, Robbie might be stretching it, but with him… she went out of her way to remind him of it. Then what, a week or two later he's back with you? I'm sorry Jade, it just… it really makes it look like he's settling for you because Tori turned him down."

Jade clenched her right fist tightly and gave him the harshest of stares that could easily rival if not surpass anything Sam could have given him. He wondered for a moment whether she was going to slug him. Instead she hissed out with a venomous voice, "Jank you."

He obviously heard the anger and hate in her voice, but he heard the softest of tremors in her voice of pain. Any offense he would have felt from such an insult, it was forgotten and replaced with pity. He softly replied, "Jade, I'm sorry."

She shook her head and put on a poutful expression as she settled in her seat and crossed her arms under her chest. "Oh, stuff it."

Freddie unexpectedly smiled and rolled his eyes. "How I wish I would have said that to Sam all those times she taunted me that Carly would never love me."

The hat wearing teenager turned her head to see his profile while he looked out to the lake.

Freddie continued on, seeming that his mind was drifting off to someplace else. "I know what it's like to feel second best in the eyes of the one you love. I didn't mean to sound as if I was taunting you, just voicing my confusion as to why someone like you would settle for him. I know he's good looking and probably charming and all the other stuff that makes the ladies swoon over him, but I know you could find a guy out there that would like you for you and not consider you being the 'backup'."

Jade wanted to strangle him the life out of him for suggesting that Beck was settling for her… even in a place in her heart she had been trying to deny since the night she reunited with Beck that agreed with the brown eyed muscular teenager. She tried to keep the venom out of her voice as she answered, "And how would you know that? We know each other for about what? A handful of days and a dozen or so tweets?"

He shrugged his shoulder and answered in a somewhat lazy voice, "Maybe, but from what I've heard about you from Tori when you're brought up in conversation and from your tweets and videos, you strike me as a very strong and independent woman."

The dark haired girl questioned in an almost accusatory manner, "So Tori talks about me?"

"You have gotten brought up a few times since you're friends.

She rolled her eyes and nearly spat out, "I can only imagine what she says about me and we're not friends—we're kind of friends."

Freddie shook his head and suppressed a laugh, "It's nothing bad about you. She doesn't talk behind your back. She only gets tired at times of your constant antagonistic behavior towards her when she's just trying to be your friend."

"Well I don't want to be her friend."

"That's your choice of course, but you don't have to be her enemy and always try to mess with her. She doesn't go gunning for you. I kind of pity you that you're just throwing away the chance of having someone like her as a friend—unfortunately in that regard you remind me of someone I'd whether forget."

She nearly spat out, "I don't need your pity or your judgment."

Freddie shook his head and quietly remarked, "No you don't, but you can't tell me how to feel either." He contemplated again to just get up and head for the water, leaving behind the girl that was reminding her more of Sam than he'd like to think about with her behavior towards Tori. Jade and Tori's relationship was a little to parallel he felt to his own with Sam and really didn't want to drag up those feelings, but unlike his clouded judgment with Sam, he knew that deep down Jade was different due to one important story.

Jade on the other hand was pleasantly surprised by the young man despite how infuriated he had made her with his words in regards to Beck and defense of Tori. Unlike other guys, he hadn't cowered and she found that despite her words to the contrary just before she got back with Beck, was an admirable trait… and a turn on.

The brown eyed teenager continued, "I know you really don't want to be her enemy either."

The statement caught the blue hair highlighted girl off guard and she quickly questioned, "Oh? And how do you know that?"

"Because if you did, you wouldn't have given up a chance to perform in front of hundreds of millions of people and become the next big hit. If you really didn't like her—or maybe out right hate her, you wouldn't have done that."

"I only did that because it was the right thing to do. It was supposed to be her night and performing in her place wouldn't have been right."

Freddie calmly questioned as his retort, "So your position is that your sense of morality is greater than your hatred for her?"

Jade paused for a moment to contemplate his question before hesitantly answering, cautious as to where he was taking the conversation, "I guess so."

A grin formed on the teenager from Seattle's face and he glanced away.

The inspiring actress immediately questioned with a slight furl of her brow. "What are you smiling about?"

He looked back with a boyish grin that would have teased other, more impressionable girls and off the cuff answered, "It just means that one day your morality is going to tell you it is wrong to just hate her to hate her."

Jade sharply retorted, "I have my reasons to 'hate' her."

Freddie tilted his head to his right shoulder to look at her and replied, "You probably do… a lot of people find ways to justify hatred, but it doesn't make it right…"

The pale actress turned her gaze back at the water, not really appreciating him suddenly making her problems with Tori into some philosophical/morality question. The only positive point that she found that there was a lack of judgment

The pair sat quietly for a few minutes before Jade wrapped her arms over her abdomen and idly questioned, "So how are you sparing time to come down here? You have exams coming up."

She didn't expect him to answer as it had become understood he would answer Tori later in the afternoon or early evening or so she thought since the popular brunette would be his strongest connection to the group for the weekend and things regarding him would be worked out through Tori.

He shrugged his shoulders and glanced around back out to the lake. "Actually I graduated just after my birthday in February just after the spring semester start. I had enough credits to graduate early, so I took my diploma and ran. I decided that I was going to take the second semester and summer off before heading to college. I wanted to do a little traveling and see the world."

Jade gave the former tech-producer a sideways glance, quite surprised by his answer. "Why? Why wouldn't you want to graduate with your friends? The extra credits I would think would help with college."

"They would, but ah… some things had been simmering for the last few months then that came to a head around my birthday and some other things I found out during my birthday… I needed to get out of school and frankly out of Seattle."

She heard the tremor of regret and mild sadness in her voice and in most cases, she wouldn't care, but contrary to what most people thought, she wasn't entirely heartless. Also, as much as Cat and to her annoyance Tori cared about her, she still had what one could say was an irrational view about not having a decent friend to count on and could empathize what she read between the lines what was the reason for him leaving Seattle.

Though her eyes couldn't display her empathy through her sunglasses, she quietly replied in hopefully a comforting manner, "I'm sorry."

He threw her a grateful smile and answered, "Thanks."

Quietness fell between the pair and they looked back to the lake seeing the other teenagers having fun swimming and not having a care in the world. Jade could have perhaps left it at that, but her curiosity got the better of her and asked, "Did it have anything to do with you turning down Sam?"

He snapped his head around to meet her eyes, his own resembling a deer caught in the headlights.

She shrugged her shoulder and nearly flippantly remarked, "Beck does watch iCarly and it was all over the site about how she checked herself into a mental hospital and confessed liking you, but you turned her down during a broadcast."

The Seattleite glanced away to his feet and explained in an almost detached voice, "I was just honest with her. Our 'friendship' was always an antagonistic one with her openly stating that she hated me—repeatedly and clearly—and ah… I didn't reciprocate her sudden romantic feelings at all. I let her down as gently as I could, trying not to hurt her feelings or embarrass her. It didn't do me any good with almost all the fans roasting me for it and Carly and Sam resenting me for not giving her a chance. It was a… contributing factor to go ahead and graduate and leave, but that was just what kind of exposed a lot of truths about people that I didn't want to accept for a long time, truths that showed me that my friendships weren't as real as I had believed."

Jade asked in an almost rhetorical manner, "And that was enough to get out of school early, ditch your friends and decide to hit the open road?"

Freddie softly rolled his eyes at the attractive girl being able to concisely sum up what had become the complicated mess that was his life. He sardonically remarked, "Yeah, doing some traveling before I settle back down for college."

Jade teased hoping to shift the conversation towards a more positive side of what was a troubling subject for the muscular teenager, "You sure do have a nice set of wheels to do that traveling. Beck was practically drooling over the thing. How did you afford it?"

He was thrown from the compliment for a second before he put on his boyish smile and answered, "Actually, I inherited it from my dad on my birthday. It turns out that he left me a lot of stuff that my mother didn't want me to know about."

The pale actress' teasing smile faded. She may not have had a very positive relationship with her father, but she wasn't going to mock someone else's father, especially if he was deceased. Despite any lingering anger she could have felt towards him from his prickly point with her relationship, she sympathetically replied, "I'm sorry, I didn't know your father had passed on."

"Thanks, but that's the thing: he didn't, well not at the time he left me some stuff. I think that's why my mother kept some things from me. I don't know if he's a live or dead."

"So he just ran out on you and your mom?"

"Yeah he did, but… I understand his reasoning for leaving; granted it was from his point of view, but… I understand," he answered in a somber voice and one that lacked any particular anger.

"Understanding and absolving are two different things."

"Yes they are…"

"Have you done the latter?"

He turned his head back to her, finding unexpected sympathy. He cracked a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

Another silence fell between them until Freddie remarked in an apologetic manner, "Sorry, I didn't mean to get into this with you."

"No, it's my fault; I kind of pried with the questions… and I'm sorry I've been… kind of ganky towards you—and cold with you earlier when we first met up. I didn't mean to come off like that to you. I was still mad with Beck practically dragging me out here. I'm just annoyed with this weekend, so I'm not the friendliest of people right now."

He directed his boyish grin to her and warmly replied, surprised to say the least at someone offering an apology to him, "Thanks. It's alright."

Jade hid a smile at being able to have a genuine and intelligent conversation that hadn't turned into a screaming match or degenerated into silly nonsense. Granted it was emotionally charged that touched on a sore spot for her in regards to her relationship and her own father, but it was a pleasant surprise and his compliment didn't hurt her self-esteem either.

* * *

Tori climbed onto a rock on the shore and stood up to very the scenery. She twisted her hair up into a bun for a moment and pulled to the back of her crown with her right hand as she lifted her left shoulder to rest against the side of her mouth and rested her chin in fingers of a loosely closed fist.

A number of boys turned their attention to the sight and admired the view as she looked around until she spotted the one she was searching. She smiled at spotting him sitting beside Jade and motioned for him to join them in the water.

Freddie spotted her and cleared his throat and stared at the brunette in her small, but still tasteful bikini that showed off her tanned and athletically shaped body. He felt a wave a heat spread through his body and quickly realized that he was on the verge of blushing along with feeling the stirring of some of his other body parts. Through willpower alone, he tried to suppress the second blush that the brunette had caused him to form on his face.

He wanted to join the friendly brunette in the water and not purely out of carnal reasons, but he felt it would be rude to just ditch Jade even if had originally interrupted her and would preferably want him to go so she could get back to her studying. He politely smiled and lifted a hand to wave.

The long haired brunette stifled a frown then forced a cute smile on her face as she waved back at the Seattleite. She turned took a seat on the rock before slipping back into the water.

Jade lifted the corner of her mouth, touched that he was turning down the chance to go into the water with her rival and instead wanting to sit with her. The hint of the smile soon faded as Beck waded towards Tori then playfully started splashing water at her, instantly cheering up the brunette.

The dark brunette hissed out in a sour tone, "She's having that affect on a number of guys."

Freddie cleared his throat again and attempted to answer in a conversational tone, "I'm not surprised. Tori's a very pretty girl… and wearing a very revealing bikini…" He turned his gave to see Cat still playing in the water with Robbie while Trina was now lounging on a beach towel to soak in some sun, the leftover water droplets making her curvy and tanned skin glisten. "…and Cat and Trina are very pretty girls." He rolled his eyes and laughed out some of his tension, "I'm sitting next to pretty girl."

Jade lifted the right corner of her mouth and confidently replied, "I know I'm pretty, but… thanks for saying it."

The former tech-producer glanced to her with a smile and politely answered, "You're welcome."

The residential mean girl found herself returning a genuine smile before the pair looked back out unto the water.

* * *

Courtney, dressed conservatively in a one piece swimsuit and beach skirt, was mildly seething while she trotted down the trail to join the others at the lake. The plan was for her and Suzy to head down together, but when she stepped out of her tent, the fellow junior was gone.

She understood that her friend would want to spend some time with her man during the study getaway, but she could have waited just a little longer so they could walk to the lake together before ditching her. She was already considered odd being a Van Cleef and didn't appreciate having to walk by herself as to look like no one wanted to hang out with her.

She paused at hearing the rustling in the nearby bushes. She studied them for a moment then saw a brown rabbit hop out from the underbrush. She smiled at the sight, finding the animal cute. The rabbit looked to her and sniffed. He remained in place and decided to munch on a piece of grass.

The curly haired blonde crouched down and cautiously walked to the animal, hoping to get to pet the creature. The animal remained in place, eyeing her and eventually let her pet the top of his head.

The glasses wearing junior smiled at the rare opportunity, but it wasn't to last as there was a rustling further in the bush and the sound spook the animal. She frowned at the shortness of the encounter and was going to complain to whoever made the noise. However, she didn't get the chance as she turned just in time to see the rock come at her head. It was the last thing she would see as the sizable rock hit her hard on the side of the face and sent her tumbling to the ground. She was dead in moments after hitting the ground, a few neurons firing their last as she twitched on the dirt, the rock hitting her temple and caving in some of her skull from the hardness of the blow and a sharp point of the rock. Her dead eyes looked out perpendicular to the ground, unable to see the one that had taken her life and started dragging her through the woods by one of her ankles.

* * *

Author's Note: So our first victim bites it. Poor Courtney, she kind of knew what hit her, but it didn't do her any good. For the girls' outfits, yes I did borrow some things from what the actresses themselves have been seen wearing. It shouldn't be too hard to hunt down pics if you're incline to do such a thing.

I was perhaps a little heavy handed on the Freddie/Jade interaction, but don't worry for those of you that are partial to Freddie/Tori, they'll get a scene—or several in the next chapter. I'm just doing a little character bonding before the hunt begins. Remember, Elizabeth Gillies new film 'Animal' is available now OnDemand and in selected theaters, so perhaps you should go see it. Later.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone! I hope your week has been going good. I have a Thursday update for you. I'm glad that it looks like I'll be able to get to those again. I still haven't had a chance to see Animal yet, so no spoilers by anyone to me.

Challenge King: Thanks. Since Freddie is the outside man for the most part in this story, he has to have some establishment with the characters to become part of the ensemble for the story.

Twilight Warrior 627: Freddie is the poster child for 'No good deed goes unpunished'. That is simply is lot in life, but instead of canon where it eventually broke him during and after the Seddie arc, it strengthen and forged him as one would mix iron ore and carbon into a steel sword. A certain brunette is seeing a little green… appropriate when the other girl is named Jade.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Freddie was simply voicing his opinion on how he saw the situation from Tori's point-of-view. If he just happens to be the better man for her than Beck, than he's the better man. Whether or not that could be the basis for a future pairing is left to be seen.

The first victim actually inverts the trope in that she's the sweet, innocent virginal girl and she's the first one off instead of the 'whore' archetype. It's to hint that one shouldn't try to say who will live and who will die due to their archetype.

Mkpunk: I don't see Dusty at this time even making an appearance.

You know I have a soft spot for Fade/Jedi, so I wanted at least on some level them connecting and getting along. It turns out that it will be this and the next chapter that balances out Teddie, so I don't think you'll be disappointed. Okay you might be a little bit in that more of it is in the following chapter.

Whether people like to hear it or not, the Seddie Arc was straight up ratings stunt that did not take into account the characters at all. Reuniting of Bade was extremely poorly handled where instead Beck realizing that he truly wanted Jade after realizing that he wasn't happy with Tori or that he had to admit any of his faults in the failure of their relationship, he simply settled for Jade after Tori refused to give him a chance. It is a bitter pill of truth for Jade, but she should swallow it now before it hurts her more later.

Tori will definitely get Freddie's attention and already has in a way.

Bade: Thanks for reading. I mentioned at the beginning of the story that Bade was an established pairing simply because the story takes place just after the last episode of Victorious, but before they graduated (and broken up afterwards as Victoria Justice believed what happened after the series in which I agree) and that no end pairings were set for the story. I have not purposely misled my pairing intentions with this story. Other than what I have as a firmly set A-plot, I'm letting the characters interact organically and letting the work decide the end pairings _if_ there are any. You don't know who's going to survive until the end.

This might offend you as a Bade supporter and I'm sorry if it does, but Beck _is_ more attracted to Tori than Jade because it was established in two separate episodes that Beck would rather be with Tori than Jade (Tori goes Platinum and Opposite Date). Tori shot him down twice and once he realized that Tori really wasn't going to give him a chance, he decided to simply take the opportunity presented in front of him to get back with Jade. His explanation for what he wanted in a relationship was the very reasons he broke up with Jade in the first place.

One last thing: Mkpunk has updated his superheroes story, iHave Super Powers.

Rating: T, but at the beginning and may cross into the M rating briefly for sexual content, so you have been warned. Also, this story will be going dark in future chapters.

* * *

Chapter 3

About half football field in distance up the trail from the lake and a dozen or so yards off to the side of it, Mister Gradstein rolled his eyes back and rested the back of his head against a tree. He wasn't taking a break from a quick hike or anything of the sort. He was taking a moment to enjoy something else besides nature.

"That's it Jessica, keep going. I can really _feel_ your performance. I should have no problem… justifying you being the lead in our… performance tonight to my… colleagues and… getting an 'A' on your final exam for my class… or Miss Bissette's class," the scriptwriting teacher softly groaned out in encouragement as he rested the top of his left hand on the crown of Jessica Wolf's head as she just happened to be kneeling in front of him with her face at his crotch. The neck string of her bikini top was undone and her 'girls' freely swaying by her back and forth body motion away and towards his groin.

Jessica's performance continued for about another minute, giving it her all and impressing upon the teacher how well she could perform and wanted her shot in starring tonight.

He tightened his grip on the dark slightly curly hair and groaned, "Jessica… time to see how to improvise when something 'unexpected' happens in a live performance." He grunted hard with several accompanying bucks of his pelvis to her face.

Jessica pushed her head forward until her nose touched skin, looking straight up to meet his eyes and moaning loudly as she felt what he labeled as the 'unexpected' hit the back then run down her throat.

Mister Gradstein shuddered a few times before Jessica backed her head away, slurping as she went, then took several swallows. She stood up and she licked her lips, dabbing her bottom lip with her right pinky finger to make sure there was no evidence of her private tutoring session with the scriptwriting teacher. A wicked smile played on her face at her self-satisfaction on her performance.

The teacher casually remarked, "That was an excellent performance Jessica. Now you better head along before your friends notice you're gone. I expect just as good a performance tonight."

The dark long haired student confidently smiled and went about tying her bikini top back into place while casually remarking, "Oh, don't worry Mister Gradstein. I won't disappoint you." She took another moment to adjust her top to properly cover and comfortably support her then reached for beach shirt and her purse she had laid down on a rock. She threw the shirt on and the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She quickly headed back to the trail, leaving behind the school teacher to gather himself.

As the teacher pulled up his briefs and shorts, he turned to the sound of the rustling of bushes to his right that were too dramatic for a light wind blowing through the forest. A mild panic gripped him at the idea that someone could have been watching his little 'tutoring' session with his ambitious student or worst yet with the ubiquitous of camera phones, someone had recorded the encounter.

Mister Gradstein let a relief breath at seeing it was only Miss Bissette stepping out between them.

The fellow teacher smirked and questioned in a teasing manner, "Really Curtis? Getting serviced by one of your underage students?"

He shrugged a shoulder while he was buckling his belt and remarked with a casual tone, "What can I say? She was eager to make sure she had a chance at performing tonight and not have Sikowitz just give it to his little darling. I guess she's just sick and tired of his favoritism and she decided to take matters into her own mou—hands, plus… well… you were off and about doing something."

Vivian Bissette raised an eyebrow and smirked, crossing her arms under her chest constrained by red and white plaid shirt that showed off a considerable amount of her cleavage. She breathily teased, "Oh? So you expect me to be your 'booty call' whenever you're in the mood?"

Gradstein finished fixing his shorts and belt then closed the distance in two strides to rest his hands on her hips and pull her close to nuzzle his nose against the side of her neck. He leered as he whispered against the side of her light skinned neck, "And I'm not for you? You've already forgotten the janitor's closest before school last week and the early evening the week before that and…?"

The mid-thirties attractive teacher rolled her eyes and muttered, "Alright, alright… I see your point." She looked back to him with a serious expression. "I just hope she doesn't turn around and tries to blackmail you with it saying you seduced her or threatened her grade."

"That's going to be kind of hard with you as my alibi right now isn't it? After all, we were doing some last minute review for the roster of students performing tonight?"

The long hair brunette seductively narrowed her eyes and pursed lips then stole a kiss from him before pulling away to lead him back to the trail so that they could finish the 'roster review'.

* * *

Suzy and Dalton exited the path hand-in-hand and reached the extensive shoreline of the lake where the vast majority of the Hollywood Arts students were enjoying the mid-afternoon sun and the water. Some were just lounging about on towels or in chairs while others were in the water swimming/carrying on and others starting a volleyball game in the water with a colorful inflatable beach ball. There was a grill just a bit back from the shore where a number of students were enjoying some burgers and hot dogs that their eccentric teacher was preparing. A little further away from the grill, a number of students were in a water balloon fight.

The couple quickly scouted out a free spot along the shore and Dalton pulled out his towel from his bag. He lifted and fanned out the large towel before letting it drop on the sandy shore. An instant after the towel settled, the thin junior took a seat on the towel and set her bag down to her right.

Dalton sat his bag to his left then slipped up to her left and the couple immediately relaxed back on the oversize towel. Suzy scooted closer to Dalton and resting her head on his right shoulder to prop her head up and casual watch her classmates have a good time while he propped up his head with his left hand.

The fair skin junior felt his fingertips gently brush up and down her nearly bare back before cupping her shoulder, bringing a smile to her face. They had refrained from going much further than just some innocent making out with the occasional slip of a hand towards more intimate parts and as much as their teenage hormones had demanded more, they were content with the current restraint of the physical aspect of their relationship. However, that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy his touch from the innocent caressing of her understandably bare skin.

Eventually in scanning all the faces as she watched her classmates enjoy the afternoon, the strawberry blonde became concerned when she couldn't spot Courtney anywhere on the shore or in the water. She looked to her charming boyfriend and commented, "I don't see Courtney. She should have been here by now."

The tall curly haired teenager pointed out with a half smile, "We did leave before her."

Suzy sat up and glanced down to him to answer, "Yeah, but we did get… distracted, so she should have been here by now."

"Maybe she just decided she wanted to hang out with some other people and study and just skip the swim?"

The fair skin girl turned the corners of her mouth down. "But all her friends are here at the lake and we agreed we'd come down together."

He sat up and pointed out in a teasing manner, "Before you literally dragged me down the trail?"

She ignored him as she turned to reach into her bag and pulled out her PearPhone from her bag. She quickly tapped her thumbs on the screen of the pink cased phone to type out a text message. She patiently looked at her phone, expecting Courtney to immediately return her message.

Suzy frowned as her screen turned black after about fifteen seconds to save power, her curly blonde friend not returning her message in what she thought was ample time.

Dalton sat up into a sitting position and shrugged his shoulder. "Why don't you ask her brother? Maybe she told him where she'd be?"

The strawberry blonde turned her frown towards her handsome boyfriend, showing her disapproval for even suggesting such a thing. "I don't like talking to him."

"Why?"

She answered as if her statement was enough to answer his question and that there was something wrong with him for not realizing it in the first place, "Because he's Sinjin."

Dalton knotted his brow and paused for a second before asking, "But you're friends with his sister?"

Suzy directed another frown towards him before getting up from her seat. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of cutoff jean shorts. She slipped her legs through the openings then pulled them up to button them. She leaned down and pulled a thin button shirt out of her bag then slipped her arms into it and threw it over her shoulders.

The assistant web-master rolled his eyes then pulled himself onto his feet to follow his annoyed girlfriend heading towards the direction of her friend's older brother. Computers were easy to understand, but women… he knew he still had a lot to learn.

* * *

Jade had moved from her chair to sit closely next to Freddie and the pair shared looking at the PearPad. Freddie was animatedly motioning with a finger to go through the steps of a complicated equation.

The dark brunette thought he was going a little fast for her, but she couldn't deny that he knew what he was talking about and that he wasn't talking down to her when she didn't grasps something the first time. She actually had to fight back a smile at him cutting through the overcomplicated bullchizz that the teachers had started using with the latest math classes and using what worked.

Though they were just studying, she found that she was enjoying his company despite her natural tendency of wanting to be alone. The enjoyment wouldn't last however as a figure stepped in front of them and cast a partial shadow upon the pair.

The dark haired teenager looked up with a slight scrawl of someone interrupting her studying for the _second_ time that day and she was ready to bite someone's head off.

Jessica Wolf holding a plastic red cup looked down on the pair with a teasing smile and politely greeted, "Hello."

Freddie took quick glance over the dark slightly curly haired girl predatorily smiling down at him. She was an attractive girl to say the least that caught his attention with her olive complex, her thin yet curving in all the right places figure, her triangle black bikini top that looked just slightly too small to hold her bust, her smooth stomach and string black bikini bottoms. A few hormones fired off in his brain as expected from the sight, but he quickly found his composure and politely responded, "Hi."

She commented in a causal voice, almost in a flirtatious manner, "I don't recognize you from any of our classes. I'm Jessica… Jessica Wolf."

Freddie muttered for a second before he recalled the name he signed on the sign-in sheet, "I'm… I'm Dustin."

The standing girl raised an eyebrow and a corner of her mouth, nonverbally suggesting that she didn't believe his stated identity.

Jade came to his rescue and stating in a mildly irritated manner of being interrupted, "Yeah, Dustin's just helping me do a little studying of math and _you're_ interrupting."

Jessica maintained her sweet expression and easily answered, "I was just trying to be friendly Jade. I didn't recognize him, so I wanted to make sure he felt welcomed at this little retreat. You don't have to be so hostile. It's not like I'm Tori that has stolen all your friends… and your boyfriend… even if this fine hunk of guy is tempting."

The dark haired intruder glanced over her left shoulder to look back out on the lake.

Jade leaned to her left and saw around Jessica to see that Tori had forgot about her longing for the Seattle boy and having a good time with splashing around with Beck to the point that he was holding her by the sides and lifting her up out of the water. She balanced herself by gripping his shoulders and laughing up a storm before Beck then gently lowering her back in it. She felt her blood figuratively boil at seeing the actions and Freddie's earlier words about her basically being Beck's backup plan. She looked back to the former tech-producer looking uncomfortable with the scrutiny from the attractive and ambitious inspiring actress.

The dark haired pale teenager slipped her PearPad into her bag then stood up. Without a word, she took off her hat to drop in the chair then grabbed the hem of her loose black shirt and pulled it up her body, revealing her smooth and pale skin of her abdomen then over head to drop it in the chair. She looked down and undid the tie to her long skirt then pulled it away from her hips then dropping to join in the chair with her shirt and hat.

Freddie swallowed at the sexy sight of the stark contrast of the black plunge cup bikini top that tied around the back of her neck that supported her ample bust and the black bikini bottoms that was tied at her hips.

As the former tech-producer was admiring the sight of the Hollywood Art's mean girl, she was twisting her hair up and taking a hair tie to tie up her hair into a loose, but secure bun behind her head. Once Jade finished, she reached down and grabbed his hand resting on his knee then pulled him up onto his feet. She quickly made up a lie, "On second thought, you're right. I need to relax between studying and the water looks nice."

He nodded his head and barely able to form syllables to answer, still captivated by the fair skin beauty, "Right."

She raised her pierce eyebrow, expecting him to follow along.

The former Seattleite got the message; he reached for his collar and pulled his loose shirt off and dropped it in Jade's yard chair followed by reaching over his shoulders and pulling his athletic shirt off and throwing it down to join his other shirt on the towel.

It was now Jade's turn to stare as Freddie was far more built than she first suspected with his defined chest and abs, but not entirely like a body builder. She resisted the urge to reach up and touch his chest. A stray thought passed her mind about how she was reacting to him as she did Moose a few weeks ago. She snapped out of her being spellbound at staring at his physique and grabbed his hand to pull him along towards the water.

Freddie spared a look back over his shoulder and waved back with his right hand and called out, "Nice to meet you Jessica."

Jade smugly brushed off, "Later Jessica."

Jessica frowned and silently fumed at the brown eyed teenager slipping away before she could figure out his true identity or being able to put any of her moves on the fine piece of man meat. She swallowed down her annoyance and was conceded to the fact that she would have to wait to take another run at the mysterious teenager, either to find out his true identity or perhaps get a taste of him.

In the meantime, she looked up and down the shore until she spotted Mark, her current beau, talking to Trina Vega. She smiled a predatory smile and decided to quell her annoyance by spending some time with her man… and putting the older Vega sister in her place—at the bottom as untalented trash as she should be.

* * *

Sinjin was relaxing back in his yard chair and holding up a reflecting fan to direct the sun towards his face. He had a visible line of white sunscreen on his nose and wore a grey athletic shirt and navy color swim trunks. He would occasionally open his right eye to steal glances at his girl for the moment, Gabriella, relaxing back on the towel in her skimpy sky blue two piece bikini showing off her olive skin athletic body.

Since the Cow Wow Dance where she had ditched Robbie, the pair had been getting along quite well. There was a slight language barrier between them, something that no one really pointed out could be a problem while going to Hollywood Arts, but the pair was apparently on the same wavelength about wanting to have a good time with each other. If her attire was any indication, they could have a little more fun before this weekend finished.

Before that possibility could happen, a familiar while slightly annoying voice to his ears called out, "Hey Sinjin."

The curly haired teenager opened his eyes and saw the slightly irritable strawberry blonde along with her slightly muscular boyfriend. He lazily questioned, "What?

"Do you know where your sister is?"

Sinjin squinted and passed quick glances between the couple the questioned, "No. I thought she was hanging out with you?"

Suzy crossed her arms over her stomach and cocked her head to the side and answered, "That was the plan, but she didn't show up."

Burf suggested between bites of his hotdog, "Maybe she just decided not to come down."

Dalton pointed out, "I thought the same thing."

The cute junior passed her boyfriend a slightly irritated expression then remarked towards Sinjin. "I'm going to go back up the trail and see if I can find her." She felt a momentary rush of fear and asked, "What if she fell and got hurt? She could have fell and not been able to get back up. She could be—"

"I doubt it. It's a pretty maintain trailed, but…" Dalton reassuringly smiled at his strawberry blonde girlfriend then looked between her and Sinjin, "…let's head back up to camp and see if she's still there or on the trail."

Suzy looked to Sinjin with a gaze that nearly demanded that he go with them to search.

Sinjin didn't look like he was all too thrilled from having to get up from his seat. It wasn't that he didn't care about his sister, on the contrary, he loved his little sister very much, but didn't like the fact that just because his sister's friend was overly worrying because Courtney didn't show up exactly when they arranged and he had to go help her on a pointless search. He highly doubted anything was wrong because there were so many people around, she wouldn't just go wander off and Dalton's point of a pretty maintained trail.

The thin pale girl gave a near glare at him until he finally shook his head and relented, "Fine, I'll go with you." He stood up from the chair then flicked an eyebrow and confidently smirked at the lovely Hispanic girl beside him. "Just sit tight, we'll be right back."

Gabriella nodded her head and answered, "Sí."

The lanky teenager turned to head back to the trail with Suzy and Dalton quick on his heels.

The Hispanic girl that projected a lack of understanding English looked back to the 'third wheel' between her and Sinjin and directed a smile to the afro wearing teenager.

He flicked his brow up with a returning smirk.

* * *

Jade held Freddie's hand as they wade and swam together about a dozen or so yards from the shore to the proximity of the rest of her 'friends'. Just before they reached the group, she caught from the corner of her right eye that he looked a little apprehension.

The dark haired beauty stopped and turned towards him, slowly moving her left arm through the water to help keep her afloat. She raised her studded eyebrow and half smirked at him. "What?"

He nervously smiled, figuring that his next words might get him slapped, but he thought he might as well risk saying them, "This might be out of line, but… you really are a sexy looking girl."

The pale girl smiled, one corner of her mouth lifting up in a seductive manner. "Well… Well you're a pretty hunk of boy."

He chuckled, feeling a bit of bashfulness of her paying attention to him. "Thanks."

Jade cocked her head to the side and toying questioned, "So I assume you approve of my swimwear?"

Freddie softly bobbed in the water, having to kick a little to float as he was far more muscle than fat, and licked his lips before cautiously asking, "Will saying yes get me in trouble?"

Jade waded closer to him, a mere foot separating their bodies and their legs starting to brush against each other when paddling through the water, and directed a seductive smile to him while answering, "No."

He grinned and smoothly replied, "Then yes, I definitely approve of the swimwear."

The multitalented girl smiled, appreciating that she beat Jessica for the attention—attention that Beck should have been giving her instead of her lighter brunette rival. Also, as petty as it was, it made it better that it was from a guy that Tori was clearly interested in seeing.

The comfortable silence with shared smiles that fell between them was cut off when Jade felt a pair of arms wrap around her sides and over her abdomen and let out a loud surprised yelp. She jerked her head to look over her right shoulder and ready to elbow the person in the face for just coming up behind and grabbing her. However, before she could do such a thing, she saw the self-satisfying smirk on Beck's face. He gave her a kiss on the cheek then rested his chin on her right shoulder and teased, "So you finally decided to join us?"

The dark haired teenager glared at him and contemplating whether or not she should hit him anyway for scaring her like that, but she would never actually hit him. Beck ignored her expression and continued with his charming smile, the expression sending a wave of annoyance through her spine and couldn't bare it for a second. She glanced back at Freddie, catching what she thought was a moment of disappointment on his face that they had been interrupted, but he quickly replaced it with a nearly trademark friendly expression.

Jade finally answered when Beck's smiled slightly faded, perhaps catching Jade's look towards Freddie's expression, "Yeah… I needed to get Freddie away from Jessica before she could sink her claws into him.

Beck raised an eyebrow and questioned with mild disbelief, "Really? It wasn't because you got tired studying? I'm sure Freddie can take care of himself."

The pale girl quickly countered, making what she subconsciously that was a safe assumption, "I know Freddie can take care of himself, but I wanted to spare him from having to put up with her. What guy wants to deal with ganky girls just throwing themselves at him?"

The heartthrob actor's easy going smile faltered, her words being a clear shot at her problem with girls throwing themselves at him, but him not saying a word to them or even acknowledging such a thing was even in the face of his carwash stunt.

Jade quickly suggested, suddenly feeling the need to pull away, "I got to make sure Robbie doesn't start playing pirate with Cat." She pushed out of his grasp and started broadly spreading her arms out then back to her chest to make her way over to Cat who was currently in a splash fight with Robbie.

The guys spared glances towards one another, both curious as to her excuse to get away before Beck turned and started swimming to follow his girlfriend.

Freddie suddenly felt mildly awkward and a little bit alone despite just being a few yards from his group of acquaintances. Fortunately for him, he was rescued by Tori wading towards him until she was close enough to grip over his shoulders and pull herself against him.

The Seattleite naturally took a hold of her hips, to hold her steady in place so they could converse of course, not as an excuse to hold the very lovely girl in his arms and feel her softness against his bare chest.

The brunette playfully commented, "I was wondering when you'd join us."

The boy from Seattle had to take several seconds to gather his composure from holding the lovely brunette. "Sorry, but ah… I was having a little chat with Jade after I didn't recognize her then was helping her study for her math exam. I didn't want to be rude and just ditch her to join you—you guys in the water."

Tori's face brightened up from his explanation, feeling better that he had not just blown her off because he was more interested in spending time with Jade than with her. She quickly reassured him that he needn't apologize, "No, it's alright. I understand." A sudden thought occurred to her and she innocently started, "Cat and I have a science exam next week…" Her grin brightened midway through her question, "…do you think you could spare some time to study with us?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, I think I can be a study partner for you girls."

Tori grinned as she slipped her hands off his shoulders and around the back of his neck to hug him. "Thanks, I'd appreciate it."

Freddie wrapped one arm around her to hold her tight while his other arm started motioned back and forth in the water to help keep them above water.

An inflatable brightly covered beach ball started bouncing closer to the group and André shouted and motioned to get their attention to the pair, "Hey, we're going to try to get a water volleyball game going."

The brunette pulled away and started swimming backwards and away from him. She teasingly smiled, clearly wanting him to follow.

The teenager from Seattle had absolutely no reason to turn her down, so he parted the water out of his way to slowly swim towards her to join the game.

* * *

Suzy, Dalton and Sinjin were on their way to head back up the path, but Sinjin brought them to a stop when they saw the Miss Bissette relaxing in a chair and reading a book with Mister Gradstein sitting next to her apparently just relaxing back in his chair. Sinjin took a moment to stare at the teacher's bare legs that she showed off while wearing a pair of shorts that stopped about mid-thigh to her as she had her right leg crossed over the knee of her other leg.

Sinjin looked to his sister's friend and completely sincerity with his confidence said in a smooth manner, "Let me handle this."

Suzy rolled her eyes and shook her head as the tall lanky teenager approached the buxom dark brunette.

The goofball turned on what he thought was an innocent and sympathetic smile. "Hello, Miss Bissette, We're trying to find my sister. We've kind of lost her and we thought we should let you know."

The teacher sat up and closed the book to rest on her lap. She asked with pliable concern, "Lost her? You lost your sister?"

Suzy quickly explained, "She's Courtney Van Cleef. She's a sophomore and has curly blonde hair and glasses." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her PearPhone and quickly brought up a picture to show the teacher.

Vivian looked at the picture of the curly blonde while Mister Gradstein glanced over to his colleague then questioned with another glance to the students, "Sophomore? I didn't realize any of them were here."

The long haired redhead quickly pointed out, not intimidated by the teacher as she never had a class with him, "It wasn't exclusively limited to the seniors. I'm a junior."

The lovely teacher laid the book in her lap and smiled towards the lanky teenager for a moment before she got up from her seat and dropped the book in her chair. She rested her hand on his shoulder and the curly haired teenager unsuccessfully held back a grin, liking where this was going with her touching him.

Miss Bissette suggested, "Let's head back to the campground and see if she's there. Maybe she's still up there and if not, we'll meet up with her on the trail. If we don't find her on the trail or back at camp, we'll call the park rangers and get the students to help find her."

The physically desirable teacher turned with Sinjin to head back to camp and Suzy was about to start following them, but the teacher slightly turned and raised a hand. "It's okay. I'm sure Sinjin and I will find her. Just enjoy your break and if we need help we'll let you know. I'm sure your friend wouldn't want to spoil your afternoon."

The strawberry blonde disapprovingly frowned, but didn't argue as the teacher's smile was quite reassuring and showed she genuinely cared about the situation. She nodded and turned away to walk with Dalton back to their spot while the acting teacher and Sinjin started on their way back to camp.

Mister Gradstein looked disappointedly at the fact that his co-worker was leaving his company, but decided wallowing would do him no good. He adjusted his sunglasses and turned his attention back to the students under the guise of doing his job of help supervising them, but he took particular interest in watching the skimpily dressed female students.

* * *

Author's Note: A little setup chapter for what is to come. For those that want to see some more Teddie, they'll be some in the next chapter. I hope to have that out by Sunday instead of next Thursday. Happy reading, OneHorseShay.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello readers! Hope you had a good weekend. I hope you've gotten the chance to see 'Animal'. I did this weekend and I thought Elizabeth was fantastic in it. Liz also deciding to post herself in a black bikini yesterday was pretty good timing for this story was pretty good. This chapter took longer than expected when I was shooting for a Sunday posting, so I'm not confident of an update for it this Thursday.

ShannonLove10456: Thank you for the compliment. I'm sorry that I have you torn, but we'll just see how the pairings play out. I don't mean to tease, I'm just letting the story develop organically without necessarily pushing for a pairing.

mkpunk: Thanks. Jade did bare her claws to protect Freddie. Unlike other guys that she can scare off which she said she preferred to do in 'Tori Fixed Beck and Jade', he wasn't scared off and it intrigued her, so she wasn't just going to let someone take him.

Tori is clearly jealous of Jade holding Freddie's attention instead of joining her in the water regardless if it wasn't about Freddie finding Jade attractive.

Would Jade be jealous of Freddie giving Tori attention in studying? That is an interesting question.

Fanfic-Reader-88: What? Some women can't be hypocrites like some men? 'I can have something on the side, but don't you dare have someone else.' Gibby did that to Tasha by stepping out on her and saying it wasn't exclusive yet months earlier wanted to beat up Freddie when he thought something was going on between Freddie and Tasha. Boy, should Gibby have regretted that with how Tasha turned out (look up Emily Ratajkowski and make sure you have the safe filter on if people are around especially with her being on the cover girl for July 2014 GQ).

However, you have to look at the motivation of why Jessica did that to Gradstein. He basically explained why to Bissette. The biology question will be addressed. The body count will start to rise.

Twilight Warrior 627: It is call the rising action for a reason in story structure. We'll see what starts happening to them.

Challenge King: Unfortunately, I would have to agree with the assessment of either girl would be better than Carly or Sam. I wish I could hit the rewind button to sometime in Season 3 of iCarly and correct all those problems in the series.

Guest: Tori and Jade as a couple do appeal to a lot of readers. I guess we'll see how their relationship develops over the course of the story whether the platonic side is strengthen, full blown pairing or somewhere in the middle.

On with the story.

Rating: T, Heavily implied nudity, but not graphic description of such.

* * *

Chapter 4

Tori decided that she needed a break from the water, feeling a little winded from the swimming, carrying on with Beck and Freddie and the impromptu water volleyball game. So Freddie as the gentleman he thought of himself as and tried to strive to be, picked up the brunette unto his back and the pair made their way to the shore.

Jade from her position of just relaxing back in the water a little ways off from the others enjoying their game, watched with mild annoyance that Tori was laughing up a storm while she had her arms over Freddie shoulders and had her hands joined under his neck. The muscular teenager in return had his arms looped under the half-Latino's thighs and giving her a piggyback ride, easily laughing along with the girl. The darker brunette had a ripple of sheathing jealousy go through her, Jessica's words striking closer to home than she cared to admit in Tori 'stealing' her friends even if Freddie wasn't really her friend as of yet.

Tori pointed towards the area they had settled not far from Jade's original position and Freddie quickly trotted over to the brunette's towel. The muscular teenager reached the towel then straightened up to let Tori slide off his back.

The athletically sculptured body teenager chuckled with a pat on his shoulder, "That was fun."

Freddie bent down to pick up his spare towel and began to dry his chest off while laughing in return, "Yes it was."

Tori grabbed one of her towels and began drying off her arms, upper chest and stomach.

The muscular teenager tried his best not to ogle the brunette as she dried herself off, but being this close to a beauty was quite a challenge.

She tossed a smile his way before she took her seat on her towel and took several deep breaths to steady her breathing.

Freddie happily took a seat next to the high school senior and joined her in trying to catch his breath.

As the pair sat together just enjoying each other's company, the remnant of cool water was evaporating off their skin and the heat of the late June sun was quickly warming their skin. Tori casually rubbed up and down up left arm and realized that her spray sunscreen may have washed away in the lake. She turned to her bag and reached in to pull a squeeze bottle sunscreen out then handed it to who she thought was a charming young man. She teasingly smiled and asked in a hopeful manner, "I need to reapply; do you mind getting my back?"

Freddie's mouth nearly dropped open like a gulping fish then caught himself. He politely smiled and nodded, "Ah… no, not at all."

Tori directed a smirk towards him before turning her back to him then gathered her hair in her hands and pulled it over her left shoulder to expose her bare back other than the black string of her top tied in a secure bow.

The former tech-producer couldn't help but grin at seeing the tanned skin of the lovely half-Latino. He thought it was a lovely sight, but one that could still had the potential to burn under the June sun if precautions were not taken; so squirting a little of the sunscreen into his left palm then starting to rubbing in the protective cream into her skin was simply the sensible action, not simply an excuse to feel up his long distance friend.

He took a good minute or so to start over her right shoulder, across her shoulder blades then over to her other shoulder with the cream, careful not loosen the string tied around her neck and over her upper chest when his fingers slipped under the string to rub the cream just over her collarbone. He squeezed a little more into his hand then proceeded to apply some from below her hairline and down her spine.

A pleasurable shiver went down her spine and Freddie tried to ignore it, mainly for his benefit as he felt himself get warmer and not for the overhead sun. He delicately applied some between the back string and her skin as it was bound to move and slip a little through the course of her moving then moved his hand to cover her mid-to-lower back just above her bikini bottoms.

All the while, Tori had her eyes closed and just relaxed to his gentle touch on her bare skin. She could really get used to his hands on her.

Once he was finished, she took the bottle and thanked him with a smile, "Thanks."

He nervously chuckled, "You're welcome. I'm glad I could help."

As she put some more of the sunscreen into her left hand and started rubbing it into her right arm, she commented as innocently as she could manage, "I'm not the only one that could use a little protection from the sun."

The dark haired high school graduate cocked an eyebrow and teased, "Oh?"

She devilishly smiled to him as she pulled herself onto her knees and rubbed some more of her sun block onto her left arm. She added a little more sunscreen into her left hand then rubbed it into her upper chest then over her stomach, giving him a teasing sight.

Freddie nervously cleared his throat as he finished watching her putting on her protective screen across her skin, teasing her own bellybutton with the tip of her pinky before she was done.

The soon to be graduate softly laughed before she surprised the boy from Seattle by starting to apply some of the sun block on his chest then up and across his shoulders. She could feel him tensing up from the contact of her hands, but the reassuring smile on her face let him know that what she as doing was perfectly acceptable.

After she finished coating his chest, she moved down to her defined abs, the product of a continued workout regiment after his physical rehab from his encounter with a taco truck. Her fingertips lingers a little longer than necessarily, making the former tech-producer begin to blush, before she started to walk on her knees to get behind him. She squeezed a little more sunscreen on her hand then started rubbing the cream over his shoulders before moving across his shoulder blades. She continued further down to get the rest of his muscular back.

Freddie snorted out a suppressed laugh as her fingertips began to tickle him, which brought a smile to Tori's face. She licked her lips as she was finishing applying the sunscreen then scooted back to his right and took a seat back on the towel next to him. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her arms across the top of her knees.

He bashfully remarked, "Thanks."

A part of the brunette's mind wanted to question him on why he was thanking her for the opportunity to basically feel up his muscular physique, but her more rational side prevailed and replied, "Don't mention it."

The pair fell into a relaxed silence, watching the carrying-ons of their friends and classmates—Tori's friends and classmates. The brunette's eyes fell on Jade in the water, looking distant from the rest of her friends, especially Beck. The dark haired teenager was definitely annoyed with her boyfriend which suddenly sent a shiver of worry through her that the one person she had seen Jade get along with so far this trip was Freddie.

The green eyed monster wasn't limited to just the resident 'Mean Girl' of Hollywood Arts and whether consciously or unconsciously, Tori intended to assert her claim of first 'dibs' on the Seattleite and doing so by seeing if Freddie could have anything more than platonic thoughts about Jade. Tori turned her head and rested it on her left forearm to set her sights on her long distance friend and casually remarked, "You and Jade did look like you were getting along pretty well. I guess she appreciated the help in studying."

Freddie slightly cocked his head to the side while returning her gaze and playfully answered, "It took a few minutes after a rough start. She's not like Sam… okay, she's a little like Sam, but… she can be quite civil even when she's clearly upset after what I said."

The younger of the Vega sisters knotted her brow and asked with a mixture of curiosity, concern and fear, "Upset? What did you say?"

Freddie glanced away to break eye contact and happened to lay his eyes on Sherry, André's ex that he dated around Hollywood Art's 'Prome' last year, wearing a turquoise tank top and bikini bottoms sitting on the pier and letting her feet play in the water. The sight distracted him for a moment then he continued, "I ah… kind of voiced my opinion about her getting back with Beck."

Tori's mouth formed an 'O' shape for a moment, knowing quite well his opinion on the matter after she filled him in on her 'opposite date' with Beck and he and Jade getting back together, then remarked with a wide eyed expression and a hint of an awkward laugh, "I know she couldn't have liked that."

"I didn't mean for it to come up, but she mentioned that Beck kind of forced her to come this weekend. I said that I was surprised that she didn't just slam the door in his face with how I pictured her as such a strong woman that I've picked up from our conversations. It led to me questioning why she got back with in the first place. She didn't like me questioning it and it was tense for a few minutes, but it settled down. I guess she realized she couldn't intimidate me and…" He leaned over and whispered as if it was a secret between them, "She thinks I'm a pretty hunk of boy, so I think that kind of help me."

Alarm bells went off in Tori's head at the idea that Jade could find Freddie physically attractive. However, it shouldn't have surprised her, after all from the others observations of her, she obviously liked Freddie in some manner and Jade couldn't have been blind to his handsomeness and gentlemanly nature even if she was currently attached. Heck, Tori had a worry in the back of her mind that Trina would try to make a move on him. The brunette pushed aside the uneasiness that Jade could have an eye on the handsome boy from Seattle and remained focused on the other part of his story, "But Jade can be a very scary person. She usually has guys terrified of her and that's how she likes it."

"So can Sam, but… loathing replaced any fear of her a long time ago, so I can deal with whatever Jade could dish out at me, but with Jade, once you get though that tough exterior, she seems to be an alright person. She seemed… sweet."

Tori's easygoing smile faded and replaced with an expression of concern at hearing the change in his feelings for the dirty blonde. On top of those feelings, she wasn't entirely happy with how he was seeing Jade, the same way André briefly looked at her last fall that had momentarily convinced him that he was 'in love' with the pale actress after a songwriting session. She didn't dwell on that as she saw the opportunity to catch up and she wanted to steer Freddie's thoughts away from Jade on the idea that the more he dwelled his positive thoughts, the greater the chance he could come to the same conclusion as André. She softly nudged his bicep with her elbow and asked, "Enough about Jade and her problems with Beck, how have you been? Your messages and chats have been hit and miss for the last few months. What's been going on with you?"

"Yeah about that… I've been keeping a little secret from you." He smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "Actually, I'm kind of surprised that the news hasn't been leaked yet. I guess people at Ridgeway didn't care that I left and Carly and Sam… I guess it was just embarrassing that I left."

Tori knotted her brow and looked to him with what he saw was an adorable confused expression. "You left? I don't understand."

"I… I graduate a few months ago and left Seattle about a week after my birthday. I've been on the road for the most part ever since. It's why we've been hit and miss on talking and I've been vague about everything."

Tori looked onto him in stunned silence then hurriedly asked, "You did what?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder and readily admitted with a distinct lack of emotion in his voice while he explained as if he was emotionally exhausted from having to already deal with it, "I had to get out of there. Things had been deteriorating since I turned Sam down—from them, from the fans, heck things started getting worst at school over it. I was getting labeled the bad guy in not giving her the chance in spite of the fact that everyone knew how she behaved and treated me. I got grief from them for having to nerve to be upset with Sam after I found out she basically janked up my original college plans—as if I was the bad guy for not forgiving her and giving her a free pass on it in an instant. I think the final straw was when Carly and Sam found out that I was regularly keeping in touch with you without really letting them know—while they ignored the fact that they were doing the same with you and Cat…" He snorted out, "…and Trina—they thought I was keeping you like a dirty little secret and in Carly's mind, we're not supposed to keep secrets from one another. Somehow, _I_ betrayed _her_. "

Tori was basically floored from the confession. Over the months, she had picked up little things that things between him and his friends weren't all rainbows and sunshine, but she didn't realize just how bad things had deteriorated. She embarrassingly smiled as she said the first thing that her mouth would utter. "Well you kind of were keeping me a secret."

"Yeah… I guess I didn't trust them—Sam—not to try to screw that up." He snorted out a laugh, "If anyone was going to screw this friendship up, it was going to be me."

The brunette cracked a soft smile to his joke then rested a hand on his shoulder and nearly pleaded voice, as if she had something to feel guilty about, "You know you could have always came down here and stayed with me. Dad may have had his reservations, but my mom wouldn't have had a problem with it. You could have finished out your senior year at Hollywood Arts."

The brown eye boy took a few seconds to stare into her inviting eyes then answered in a thankful voice, "I appreciate the invite and I could just imagine the times we could have had this last semester, but… with what happened between them in Seattle and what I found out about some other things from my father… I needed time to sort it all out in my head alone and away from everyone. I didn't mean for it to look like I was cutting you out of my life. The offer of support and a place to stay really does mean a lot to me."

"You're welcome and thanks, but what about your father? You've never talked about him and well… I never wanted to pry."

"I found some stuff out about him during the late evening on my birthday—after our last chat for the day—and I found out why he left and that he left me a few things. It was a bombshell and I really needed the time to myself, so I hit the open road in the Charger my dad left me. It's given me time to think about him and just how my life's gone and where it's going."

"Did you figure all the things you wanted?"

Freddie reassuringly smiled to her while answering, "Not yet, but I have a better grip on things than I did before I left Seattle."

She asked with a worried filled tone, believing that the answer would involve not seeing him for a while after the campout, "What are you going to do after this weekend? You're just going to hit the open road again?"

"I might, but I'll settle down in the fall to go to college."

Tori quickly asked, eager yet fearful of his answer, "Where are you going to college? Going back to Seattle?"

Freddie surprised her with a soft smile and revealed, "I ah… I'm going to UCLA for Computer Science."

Tori's face lit up and she enthusiastically asked, "You're going to be staying in Los Angeles?"

The brunette's smile was infectious and he answered in an upbeat tone, "Yeah, I'm going to school in Los Angeles. I need to stay away from Seattle for a while and it's a good school for the degree; I figured that I had a friend or two down here that might be willing to hang out with me."

Tori licked her bottom lip and playfully remarked, "I think I might know a person or two that might fit that description." She nudged his shoulder then leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. The pair fell silent and just looked out onto the lake, Freddie wasn't really sure how to carryon with the playful banter. He decided to quit while he was ahead.

However, he regretfully interrupted the silence by asking since she had reapplied the sunscreen and caught her breath, "Do you want to head back to the water?"

Tori reached into her bag to pull out a pair of sunglasses then placed them on her face with her left hand before leaning back and lacing her fingers behind her head to lie back on the towel. "Nah, this'll be just fine."

Freddie cracked the softest of smiles then leaned back to rest beside her. The brunette in turn inched her right hand towards his left one and slipping into it as they watched the first clouds start to roll in over the lake and forest.

* * *

Suzy nervously sat on the beach towel over the course of the last half hour waiting to hear any news either through a call or text message from Courtney or word from Miss Bissette and Sinjin while her boyfriend was feeling quite powerless to make her feel any better. She was failing quite miserably at trying to enjoy her afternoon as the teacher had suggested.

The strawberry blonde was about to just jump up and go back to the camp to find her when Miss Bissette lazily trotted down from the trail to return to the lake wearing a pleasant smile on her face. The teenager didn't understand why, but the smile was not reassuring to her and sent a wave of worry through her.

Suzy jumped up from her spot and nearly dashed over to the teacher. She stopped herself just before crashing into the older and taller woman and looked to the attractive teacher with an apprehensive expression. "Did you find Courtney?"

The attractive teacher held her smile and easily replied, "Yes I did. It turns out that she's not feeling well. We found her in one of the restrooms."

Suzy eagerly asked, her concern for her friend dominating her voice, "Is she alright?"

Bissette gently rested a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder and replied, "Oh yes, she's alright for the most part. She's just gotten a little sick on her stomach and Sinjin decided to take her home." She leaned slightly forward and whispered, "I slipped her a little medicine to help settle her stomach so she could make the trip home before throwing up. I'm not really supposed to do that, so could we just keep it between ourselves?"

The rising senior still looked mildly unconvinced at her teacher's explanation and glanced to her boyfriend, signaling she wasn't entirely happy with the news. "I'd like to see her."

The teacher sympathetically answered, "Oh, I'm sorry. I just saw them off before coming back."

Suzy sighed and reached into her back pocket to retrieve her phone and fire off another text message to her friend, the other unanswered ones further up the screen troubling her. She patiently waited for the friendly blonde to reply, but there were still no replies.

Bissette readily suggested, still wearing her welcoming smile, "I'm sure she's probably just taking a nap on her way back."

Suzy nodded her head and slowly replied, "Right… I'll give her a call in a few hours after she gets home."

* * *

Sikowitz's favorite students decided that it was time for a break from the water. As much fun as they were having, it wouldn't do any of them any good if they were exhausted when it was their time to perform tonight. The darkening sky of more clouds rolling over the national forest was also a sign that it might be time to head out of the water. The last thing they wanted was to be caught out in the rain, especially if it started lightning.

They trotted out of the water one-by-one with Jade being the last one out. Robbie frowned that Cat was getting piggyback ride from André. He felt the rush of annoyance for the most part of not being able to do such a thing for her. At that inadvertent slap to his ego and seeing the physique of André and Freddie, he contemplated that perhaps it was time for him to hit the gym.

Cat spotted her lighter brunette friend and the teenager from Seattle sitting together and pointed over in their direction for André to take her, which he was heading anyway since they had all laid down their towels around one another.

The redhead slipped off her muscular friend when they were just a few feet away and trotted to them. She beamed a smile to them, dropped to her knees at their feet and teased, "Hi."

The pair sat up with Tori slipping her hand out of Freddie's hand. The brunette easily replied, "Hi Cat."

Jade wore an unsteady smile seeing the pair so cozy, whether it was due to her current irritation with her boyfriend or just the fact that Tori was happy and she was… not.

The former technical producer asked, "Calling it a day in the water?"

Beck grinned. "Yeah, can't wear ourselves out since we might perform tonight."

Freddie nodded in understanding then motioned over to Sikowitz still behind the grill and serving the last students in line and suggested, "It looks like Sikowitz is just about to wrap up grilling, so does anyone want to grab a hot dog or hamburger before he's done?"

The Hollywood Arts students frowned and glanced towards one another.

Freddie raised an eyebrow, clearly being the man outside and asked with a mildly fearful tone, "What's the problem?"

Tori hissed through her teeth then answered, "It's not meat. He's not cooking meat."

Freddie furled his brow. "It's not? Then what is he cooking?"

The younger of the Vega sisters shook her head. "Nope. When I asked about it one time he just burst out laughing, so…"

"It's not meat? And I'm guessing you don't know what exactly he's fixing?"

Jade decided to speak up, "Afraid not."

Freddie tossed her a quick smile (and let his eyes take a moment to appreciate the view of the bikini wearing teenager) then asked the group, "So, are we on our own for a late lunch/early dinner?"

Beck threw on a smile and answered, "Nope. I brought a few things that we can cook over a fire. I brought grill pan and stand for the fire so we can cook." He leaned forward and whispered to his group of friends, girlfriend and plus one, "And I borrowed a microwave for my trailer if the fire doesn't cut it."

The Seattleite smiled in appreciation on being let in on the secret.

Tori got up from her spot, holding on to Freddie's arm to signal that she wanted him to join him in standing. "Then let's grab our stuff, hit the showers and get back to the trailer before it might start raining." She looked around to try to see if she could see Trina and spotted her sitting on the pier, slightly pouting. "Come on Trina! We're heading back and grabbing something to eat."

The attractive half-Latino got up from her spot and lazily strolled towards them, well to Freddie and Tori as the others started gathering their respective things. The girls took a few seconds to dry themselves off with the upside portion of their towels and threw their outer clothes in or over their bags on their shoulders. The others beside Tori and Freddie started on their way as Trina caught up with them to pack her stuff without bothering to wait for her.

The older sister directed an appreciative smile to her sister and a flirtatious one to Freddie for waiting for her and let her pack her stuff. Freddie politely smiled and tried not to let his eyes roam over the older sister's curvy and tanned body. He was really starting to hate his hormones by this point. Soon the trio caught up with the others on their way back up the trail. Tori walked beside Freddie and let the back of her hand lazily brush across the back of his hand as their arms swayed while walking.

Jade glanced over her shoulder to see the playful smirk on her rival's face with her proximity to the Seattle boy. She thought about taking Beck's hand, the need to feel close to someone when watching someone else having that closeness, especially that person being Tori with the company she found, but her irritation with her heartthrob boyfriend was too great and she tightened her grip around the end the strap to her bag.

The trip up the trail barely took five minutes and the group headed towards the provided restrooms and showers to shower after spending so much time in the water. The manmade lake was fairly clean relatively speaking, but they did want to wash up before heading back to camp. Fortunately unlike the group's last getaway together, there was some more thorough research about the park, so in at least the girls' bags they did bring a change of undergarments to put on before putting back on their outerwear. However, Jade hadn't thought that far ahead as she really hadn't planned to get in the water in the first place.

* * *

The small building was partitioned into two halves, one side male restroom/showers and the second side for the ladies and designed basically like a gym style showers down on side with wooden plank dividers between the stalls giving the individuals a semblance of privacy from their neighbors as they showered. The male and female sides were identical save for at the end of the female side at the end of the row there was a storage closet to keep the camp maintenance supplies.

They were the first ones to the showers as the others were still enjoying their time at the lake, either having satisfied any hunger with Sikowitz's food or thinking they still could get a little more fun in before the chance of rain, so neither group had to worry about others in the showers with them.

Over in the men's shower, the guys grabbed the quickest of showers as they did after gym class to scrub off any sunscreen or residue from the lake. They were done in nearly a blink of an eye and drying and dressing in nearly record time. André was sitting on the bench between the shower stalls and sinks on the opposite wall and pulling on his athletic shirt as he joked over his shoulder to Freddie standing behind him at one of the sinks, "I see that Tori's really happy to see you. I hadn't seen her like that since Moose's visit."

The Seattle teenager looked over his shoulder as he was finishing washing out his swim trunks then trying to dry them enough just to be able to wear back to camp. He really couldn't walk the hundred feet or so back to his tent with just a towel wrapped around his waist even if plenty of the ladies wouldn't have mind.

Freddie paused for a second in ringing out the trunks in the towel one last time, the gears in his mind starting to go at the mentioning of Moose. He recalled what Tori thought was an embarrassing story about pursuing in the romantic sense Beck's friend from Canada. If André was saying her behavior was comparable then that could potentially shift their friendship into something more. He glanced over to cautiously answer, "Yeah, she is. We haven't seen each other since last September—it's good to see all of you," he quickly corrected himself.

Beck spoke up with a surprisingly hesitant tone as he threw on his light rolled up sleeved buttoned shirt, "I think what André means is that Tori's happy to see you more than just a friend. I didn't realize you had stayed that close since you haven't been back for a visit since her play last fall."

The Seattleite wasn't sure how to initially respond as heard the uneasiness in Beck's voice that sounded like to him that he wasn't happy that Tori was giving Freddie that sort of attention nor how truthfully he could be with André due to their limited contact and him being Tori's best male friend. If he did want to return those feelings towards Tori, if she truly had them for him, he didn't want either to sabotage him by a stray word or deliberate act. They each had potentially reasons for doing so as he told Jade, Beck had been interested in Tori to the point of making a run at her twice and since André had been with Tori from the start and been her rock, perhaps he had developed feelings for her over that time, but never had the chance to act on them.

It might have been a paranoid way to look at the situation, but life experience had unfortunately taught him that even the closest ones to him would screw him over without a second thought.

He glanced between the waiting teenagers and hesitantly answered, "She hasn't mentioned anything to me of perhaps wanting to be more. Her being here and I in Seattle has kind of dampened that possibility over the last year."

The long haired actor gently probed, "She's done it before."

Freddie voiced what crossed his mind without filtering it, "And looked how that turned out with Steven."

Beck cocked an eyebrow with a half smirk. "You think you'd do what Steven would do? Have a girl in Seattle while dating Tori?"

The former tech-producer turned to the bench to lay out his trunks on the towel then picked up his muscle shirt, all the while giving Beck a glare that showed he didn't appreciate the near accusation.

However, the thinner teenager ignore the glare and continued in an almost accusatorial tone, but just almost to make it sound like they were still having a conversation, "I heard the girls like you from your celebrity status on the show and… it seemed to be working on Jade. You and her seemed to be getting along. I was kind of surprised that she was so eager to… 'rescue' you from Jessica. I guess your celebrity status was working on her too."

"Jessica Wolf?" Robbie spoke up with a slightly higher than normal pitched voice as he stepped out from his shower stall with a towel around his waist.

Beck glanced to his friend and explained, "Yeah, apparently she was eyeing Freddie and Jade didn't like it. She pulled him to the water to get away from her."

Freddie softly bit his tongue, not exactly sure how to respond without possibly starting an argument with the long haired actor. He turned to face Beck while pulling his athletic shirt back on and answered, perhaps taking a figurative shot over the bow, "Yeah, I guess Jade appreciated the change in company and someone that was willing to help her study. I was helping her study for her math exam since I'm pretty good at it. She's still kind of annoyed that you dragged her out here and messed up her studying plans. You were kind of busy playing in the water with _Tori_ and Jessica doesn't know I'm Freddie Benson. I gave her the name that I signed in as and Jade and I went into the water before she could ask anymore questions."

Beck rolled his eyes, thinking Jade was carrying it too far in her anger towards him. He didn't appreciate the remark about his actions with Tori either and snorted, "I could tell, but you seemed to be handling her pretty well. Not many guys can."

Freddie grabbed his shorts and walked back to the privacy of one of the stalls to slip his trunks on. He called out from behind the partition, "I guess I'm not like other guys." He stepped from behind the partition in the only slightly damped trunks and continued, "I guess you can make it up to her by helping her study. I might be a little busy helping Tori and Cat study for their science exam between performances. Tori suggested that she and Cat could use some help."

The slightly taller teenager bit his tongue from replying that he owed his girlfriend anything as he saw bringing her out here to help her with her exams whether she would acknowledge it or not. He also debated whether or not he should point out that Tori and Cat had already finished their science course the previous semester and wouldn't be having those exams this time.

Robbie of all people saved him from having to say anything as the lanky teenager finished dressing in another stall and awkwardly commented, a slightly annoyed expression, "So they're using you for your brain?"

Freddie chuckled while passing the glasses wearing teenager a glance. "That's one way to look at it. I guess it's better than them using me for my body."

The dark curly haired teenager frowned at the remark. Tori may have been the one to suggest that she and Cat could use some help studying, but it didn't prevent Robbie from imagining that Cat could want to use Freddie for his body.

André got up from the bench and motioned for the door. "Well if you fellas are done, let's get back to the RV and grab something to eat… and we can get first dibs on the food." The songsmith laughed as he made his way to the door.

Beck smirked and shook his head in agreement while Freddie brought up the rear in confusion as to why the guys seemed to be in competition with the girls over the last several weeks from the stories she heard from Tori.

* * *

In the other side of the building in the girls' shower/restroom, each of the girls took a stall with the partition reaching the girl's shoulders in height (except a little higher for Cat due to her shortness), starting with Cat at the end closest to the door, followed by Jade, Tori and Trina at the end near the storage closet.

Jade lathered her rag up with soap as Cat was kind enough to let her borrow some soap and having a spare rag since the dark brunette hadn't originally planned to go in the water. She started washing her shoulders and arms and glanced over the wooden stall partition towards Tori and guardedly asked, "I guess you're happy that Freddie made a surprise visit."

The darker haired teenager wasn't sure why she was bringing it up when it was clear that Tori was thrilled in seeing the boy from Seattle. She really didn't like seeing Tori happy, especially when she was on edge and bringing the topic up wasn't that logical thing for her to do.

Trina had her fingers in her hair to wash it out as she called out from Tori's left, "I'm glad to see him. Chizz, he's beefed up since the last time. We got another Moose on our hands, but smarter."

Tori frowned, not appreciating that her older sister really did have her eyes on Freddie. She looked to her sister on her left and softly admonished, "Yeah, but you have as much chance with Freddie as you did with Moose. You won't be able to just jump on his back this time and make him carry you as you made Moose."

The older Vega raised an eyebrow and shifted her head back and questioned with a little steal in her voice, "But it's alright for you to jump on his back and carry you?"

Jade brushed her rag over her upper chest under her neck and squeezing it to let some of the soapy water down her chest and laughed, "She's got you there Tori."

The lighter brunette narrowed her gaze and her lips became a thin line as she looked to her other side at Jade. "He offered and I accepted. I didn't just jump on him and yes, I'm happy to see Freddie. It was a great surprise. He is my friend and I haven't seen him in months."

The paler girl lightly probed, "Is that it? You sure were trying to get his attention on that rock back at the lake. You were practically posing for a picture."

Tori lazily washed over her left shoulder while answering in a slightly defensive manner, "I just wanted to include him in the fun with us, but you sure had his attention."

The older Vega sister followed up in a borderline accusing tone, "Yeah, why are you bothering trying to keep him around? You're not on the market anymore. You have Beck back."

Jade snorted out while lightly scrubbing over her stomach, dismissing Trina out of hand, "He stopped by to check on me…" Her mouth became a smirk and recalled to tease Tori, "I caught his attention while I was reading. He didn't recognize me until he said hi. We got to talking and he decided to help me study. I have a math exam next week and he's good at it. He's a pretty smart guy."

The lighter brunette wore an even expression, hearing that Jade was confirming the story Freddie gave her. She realized that thinking Freddie was just giving her 'a story' as to why he didn't initially join her in the water seemed kind of suspicious and unfair to him, but she was getting a little possessive of him.

Unseen by the others, Trina was washing over her shapely rear with her left hand and idly commented, "I wonder if he's good at hands on biology."

The other three girls stopped their respective washing and rinsing to turn and look over the partitions to look at the older Vega sister. Trina's eyes showed a bit of lust and she smirked while answering in a false sense of innocence, "What? You said he's a smart guy. Would any of you turn his help down to 'study'?"

Tori furled her brow and sharply retorted with a higher than normal pitch voice, the one that Jade enjoyed mocking her with at times, "You don't have a biology exam."

The older sister flicked an eyebrow and smirked. "He doesn't need to know that."

Tori shook her head in disgust, Jade rolled her eyes and Cat happily continued to wash herself off seemingly oblivious to Trina's meaning.

A moment later, the pale teenager pointed out as she bent over a little and raised her right leg a bit to wash off her shin, "Might be a bit pointless in trying Trina. Where do you think he's going to go at the end of the weekend? Back home with you?" The dark brunette stood back up and looked over the partition, flicking an eyebrow up in a mocking manner.

Trina narrowed her gaze and retorted with a prickly tone, "He could. He stayed with us for a weekend last year for Tori's play. Our mom and dad wouldn't have a problem with it."

The potential horror actress turned back to the front of the stall and softly laughed, "The one where you were flying about like a loose chandelier?"

The underappreciated actress stopped midway through washing over her lower pelvis and turned her neck to direct a glare at her younger sister's rival. She felt a phantom pain in her ribs in recalling the impact of dropping on the table top on the set and breaking it while nearly doing the same to her ribs.

Cat innocently asked as she was finishing rinsing out her red velvet locks, "But wouldn't he need to get back to Seattle? Doesn't he have exams too?"

Trina looked past her sister and the residential mean girl, frowning at the smaller girl's valid point.

Jade lazily remarked as she started washing off her other shin, "Nah, he already graduated early and in the meantime, he said he was sticking to the road until he headed for college."

Trina eagerly asked, "He's already graduated? What college is he going to? Is he heading back to Seattle?"

Jade answered in a mildly annoyed that she didn't know the answer while trying stretching her arms to wash her back with just a washcloth, "He didn't say."

Tori's eyes narrowed and her happy expression slightly turned down, not entirely thrilled that Freddie had apparently shared that information with Jade before she told her. "No, he's going to go to UCLA this fall."

Jade glanced to Tori as the lighter brunette turned to begin rinsing off her back. "UCLA?"

Tori's smiled came roaring back at hearing that she had known Freddie's college plans before Jade. She teasingly answered as she "Yeah. It'll be good to see him on a regular basis."

The older sister cocked an eyebrow and happily questioned, "Really?"

The pale girl turned to let the water rinse her back off. She rolled her eyes and nearly spat out, "Will you? Won't Mason put you on tour by then or is your album not finished yet?"

The lighter brunette knotted her brow, not thinking about the possibility that just when she could connect with Freddie, she'd be off somewhere on tour. She answered in a somewhat sour tone, "Maybe, but it's not like I'd be touring the entire year. I could wait until the summer before going on tour. I'm still working on it, but it'll be done before the fall."

Trina chuckled as she finished up lathering, "Don't worry baby sister; I'll make sure Freddie has his Vega welcome in L.A. while you're gone."

Tori saw the look in her sister's eye and she had to resist the urge to jump over the partition similarly to when Trina jacked her date with Mark. She took several slow breaths to calm her nerves and stated, "I'm sure Freddie will be absolutely fine and well adjusted to L.A. before I go on tour."

Jade spoke up with a big grin as she was finishing the last bit of her rinsing in all the nooks and crannies of her body with her fingertips, "If not, I can always keep an eye out on him. There are plenty of people—girls that would love to take advantage of a guy like him."

"I could too," Cat giggled without understanding the deeper meaning of her two friends.

Tori narrowed her gaze on Jade and just slightly shook her head without speaking.

The pale girl let out a soft laugh then turned off the shower water.

One by one, the girls finished their respective showers and then headed to the bench to finish drying off and getting dressed, apparently comfortable around one another enough not to be concerned if the others caught brief glances of their respective nudities. Once they were presentable enough to go out, they headed on their way out, passing by Gabriella making her way inside. She politely greeted them while Cat gave her a standoffish expression that went passed the Latino.

Gabriella quickly dropped her bag and towel on the bench then pulled the strings to her bikini top to pull it off followed by her bottoms to drop them on her towel. She turned and walked to the stall that Cat had occupied. She turned the water on then lifted her head, closed her eyes and took a step forward so that the shower head could start rinsing her hair out.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a small sliver in the door to the maintenance storage closet where someone… something had been watching them and now was watching limited English speaking girl all alone.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things will start heating up and kicking off in the next two chapters with the blood starting to flow. Take care, OneHorseShay.


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